Below is a thick jargoned explanation of how lithium interacts with the brain
inhibiting electrical overload while not disrupting vital function. While my
implant had other chemicals largely related to its timed release over a period
of months, I was led to believe (or perhaps inferred) that its primary makeup
was a lithium compound.
Lithium acutely inhibits
and chronically up-regulates and stabilizes glutamate uptake by presynaptic
nerve endings in mouse cerebral cortex
Department of Pharmacology, University of Wisconsin Medical
School, Madison, WI 53706-1532
Communicated by Henry Lardy, University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI (received for review January 26, 1998)
Abstract
We previously reported that lithium stimulated extracellular
glutamate accumulation in monkey and mouse cerebrocortical slices. We
report here that this is caused by lithium-induced inhibition of
glutamate uptake into the slice. Glutamate release was amplified 5-fold
over inhibition of uptake. When the effects of lithium and the specific
glutamate transporter inhibitors, l-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylic
acid and dihydrokainic acid, were plotted as glutamate accumulation vs.
inhibition of glutamate uptake, the plots were superimposable. This
finding strongly indicates that lithium-induced glutamate accumulation
is caused entirely by inhibition of uptake. With cerebrocortical
synaptosomes, inhibition of glutamate uptake was greater than in slices,
suggesting that presynaptic nerve endings are the primary site of
inhibition of uptake by lithium. Inhibition of uptake was caused by a
progressive lowering of Vmax, as the lithium
concentration was increased, whereas the Km
remained constant, indicating that lithium
inhibited the capacity of the transporter but not its affinity.
Chronic treatment of mice with lithium, achieving a blood level of 0.7
mM, which is on the low side of therapeutic, up-regulated synaptosomal
uptake of glutamate. This would be expected to exert an antimanic
effect. Lithium is a mood stabilizer, dampening both the manic and
depressive phases of bipolar disorder. Interestingly, although the
uptake of glutamate varied widely in individual control mice, uptake in
lithium-treated mice was stabilized over a narrow range (variance in
controls, 0.423; in lithium treated, 0.184).
Knowing I no longer would have access to a replacement when this implant wore
out (I was planning on mid August, but my changes in lifestyle caused by moving
to Thailand seemed to speed the dissolving process a little) I looked into
possible alternatives. After several dead ends and an unbelievable number of
unreturned emails (I know doctors are busy people, but you'd think they would
care enough of the plight of a dying man to at least acknowledge they received
the email and could not help.) I stumbled across a study on nano-particulated
lithium. Most searches on this will show that the vast research on this is for
newer and better car batteries, but one doctor in Seoul, Korea was having
success with seizure suppression during epileptic attacks by use of this same
compound. Its tiny size allows it to be absorbed straight into the brain in no
time.
It took several weeks but he eventually returned my phone call and expressed
interest in the possible application of nano-lithium toward my condition. This
is in terms of symptom suppression not any type of cure. A cure is still years
away but will bring relief to millions of MS suffers. But this will, if
successful, provide that dampening effect that the implant did, allowing me to
experience the world without being overwhelmed by the input. It should also
reduce the damage done with each attack.
The delivery system seemed to be there biggest concern. After all particles
small enough to pass through glass are going to laugh as they merrily pass
through the walls of a syringe. Some extremely expensive ideas were bandied
about. This last message talked of magnetic bandages, which I at first though
was a translation error for adhesive bandages, but I Googled it anyway and found
this:
'Magnetic bandages' for targeted delivery of
therapeutic agents
M E Hayden1 and
U O Häfeli2 1
Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive,
Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada 2 Faculty of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2146 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T
1Z3, Canada E-mail: mhayden@sfu.ca
and uhafeli@interchange.ubc.ca
Abstract. We
investigate planar periodically magnetized structures for use in
targeting or controlling the delivery of therapeutic agents attached to
small magnetic particles, and derive simple analytic expressions for the
relevant magnetostatic forces. We show that improved particle trapping
or confinement characteristics are possible relative to those that can
be obtained with more conventional (i.e. uniformly magnetized)
structures. These improvements include forces that are larger at close
range (for equivalent magnetization densities) and that are both
unidirectional and uniform over arbitrarily large areas parallel to the
magnet surface. Expressions for the magnetostatic forces exerted on
point-like magnetic particles in the vicinity of long rods (with
circular and ellipsoidal cross sections) uniformly magnetized
perpendicular to their axes are summarized in an appendix.
Print publication: Issue 38 (27 September
2006) Received 26 April 2006, in final
form 23 June 2006 Published 8 September 2006
The next problem was the cost. A Medical Grade nano-particulated Lithium
compound is not cheap, and while I had this doctor's interest he does not have a
grant or anything like that to offset the cost. Plus either I go to Seoul or the
medicine comes to the hospital here, and then there are doctor's costs on this
end.
The bottom line seems to lie in the six to seven grand area, thus putting me
in the awkward position of potentially extending the enjoyable period of my life
while using up a goodly portion of the nest egg that I am living off of. I could
live cheaper stretching the original amount to cover the extended period - I'm
figuring through January. But I still need to replace the costs of the lithium
and medical treatment.
I'm starting to get the feeling life wants me in a position where I am going
to have to make some hard choices, but I'll jump off that bridge when I come to
it. Right now I'm choosing to shoot for quality of life. As often has happened
in my life I'll figure out how to pay for it later.
