The invention generally relates to methods of treating short telomere disorders using known compounds and pharmaceutical compositions comprising same. More specifically, the disclosed methods comprise, in one aspect, the step of administering to the subject an effective amount of at least one lithium compound or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, thereby treating the subject for the short telomere disorder. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention.
