The Promise of Lithium

Dr. Guttuso is a Professor of Neurology at the University of Buffalo and a member of the Parkinson Study Group and International Movement Disorder Society. He received his Bachelor’s from Cornell University, Master’s and Medical degrees from the University at Buffalo followed by his residency training in Neurology and fellowship in experimental therapeutics and movement disorders at the University of Rochester.
As a movement disorder neurologist subspecialist, Dr. Guttuso has been treating and caring for patients with Parkinson’s disease for over 20 years. In addition, at least 50% of Dr. Guttuso’s professional time is devoted to performing clinical research testing novel treatments for diseases with unmet needs. Dr. Guttuso’s research has not focused on building upon what is already known about diseases. He has instead focused on developing serendipitous discoveries in his own patients into novel uses of already approved medications, so called “drug repurposing”. With this strategy, old medications known to be safe can quickly and inexpensively be tested for new applications offering patients effective therapies without having to reinvent the wheel. Using this research paradigm, Dr. Guttuso has made 3 medical discoveries, the first 2 of which have been successfully developed and are currently being prescribed to postmenopausal women with hot flashes and women with severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum. Dr. Guttuso’s third serendipitous discovery became the origin of this book.
Dr. Guttuso has authored 35 peer-reviewed articles in leading medical journals and is credited as the first person to offer a theory explaining the connections among lithium, cigarette smoking, Parkinson’s disease and melanoma that has stumped the scientific community for over 60 years.