Lithium maintains production of a bone-repair protein, suggesting that the element might help people with fractures that are mending slowly or not at all.
Scientists had known that the protein beta-catenin is instrumental in orchestrating bone growth in childhood. But it was less clear whether beta-catenin played such a role in bone repair.
Meanwhile, other research had shown that lithium increases the amount of beta-catenin in the body by preventing its degradation.
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