Tiny amounts of lithium -- a natural metal -- may help protect the brain from Alzheimer's disease and other effects of aging, new Harvard research shows.

Lithium is a metal found in some foods, drinking water, and in trace amounts in our bodies. It has long been used to treat some psychiatric disorders. But its potential role in protection against brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease opens up new doors for developing medicines that may finally provide an effective tool for fighting this dreaded brain-robbing disease,

Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston now say that lithium could help treat the 7 million people with Alzheimer's disease.