Daily doses of lithium, have been found to delay progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a 15-month study of 44 patients with ALS. At the end of the trial, about 30 percent of the patients that took riluzole had died, while all those receiving riluzole plus lithium had survived. the lithium group had slower progression as measure by a test of breathing (FVC) and strength.