Patent ID: 7378111

Claim:
A method of inhibiting or reducing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in a patient, comprising the steps of: (i) administering to the Alzheimer's disease patient a therapeutically effective composition, comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable amount of a GSK-3 inhibitor or GSK-3α-specific inhibitor, wherein the GSK-3 inhibitor or GSK-3α-specific inhibitor comprises lithium or a salt thereof; (ii) measuring the blocking, inhibiting or reducing production of Aβ amyloid peptides in the patient following the administering step (i); and (iii) determining that the administered inhibitor is sufficient to block, inhibit or reduce GSK-3 or GSK-3α activity in the patient, such that measured formation of Aβ amyloid peptides in the patient is reduced in the ranges of 30% to 60%.