Could Lithium Supplements Ease the Brain Fog of Long COVID?

THURSDAY, Oct. 3, 22024 (HealthDay News) -- A small dose of the nutritional supplement lithium asparate may not ease the fatigue and brain fog of Long COVID, a small, new trial involving 52 patients has found. Still, it's possible that a larger dose of the mood-enhancing supplement might work, researchers said.

Importantly, the supplement contains much lower amounts of lithium than prescription lithium, typically 10 milligrams (mg) per pill instead of 300 mg or 450 mg. “This is a very small number of patients, so these findings can only be seen as preliminary,” said study lead author Dr. Thomas Guttuso , of the University of Buffalo.

“Perhaps achieving higher blood levels of lithium may provide improvements to fatigue and brain fog in Long COVID.” Experts estimate that over 17 millions Americans could have Long COVID, with many experiencing the sluggishness and brain fog that can accompany the condition. As Guttuso explained, he recommended lithium aspartate at 5 to 15 milligram (mg) daily doses to 10 patients, and nine claimed to see their fatigue and brain fog ease.

That prompted him to consider a clinical trial. So, Guttuso and his colleagues recruited 52 people with "new, bothersome fatigue or cognitive dysfunction persisting for more than 4 weeks after a self-reported positive test for COVID-19." Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 10 to 15 mgs per day of lithium aspartate, or a placebo pill that looked identical, for five weeks.

Unfortunately, no b.