Lithium

Lithium

“Lithium is no doubt the unsung hero of medicine” states Dr. Vincent S. Gallicchio (Brown University, 1999). Lithium is a naturally occurring chemical. It can be used in heat transfer alloys, batteries, and most importantly, for medicinal purposes.. Upon being discovered as a treatment for certain illnesses, lithium has become a widespread well-known mood stabilizer. Lithium’s medicinal brand names include Eskalith CR, Eskalith or Lithobid. Although lithium has many benefits for those individuals who suffer from problems such as bipolar disease or cluster headaches, it can have many adverse side effects, and needs to be monitored closely.

Previous to Lithium’s wide known use in the medical field, lithium was a largely used substance (AJP, 1999). In the Mid 1800’s, interest in lithium rose with investigation into lithium’s medicinal purposes. A. Lipowitz. And Alexander Ure stated that lithium had the capability to dissolve uric acid crystals in vitro. Lithium then was a sought out drug in the treatment of gout. It was not until Alexander Haig’s writing on the “uric acid Diathesis,” that lithium had widespread use. In Haig’s writing, he proclaimed that lithium could be used for a great amount of related illnesses due to imbalances in uric acid. The illnesses included were angina, asthma, arthritis, depression, headaches, hypertension, and epilepsy. Willam A. Hammond, M.D., and past U.S. Surgeon General, stated that lithium bromide could be used to treat mania. Charles L. Mitchell, M.D., in the 1910 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that his “laxative alkaline salt of Lithia” could be used in the treatment of gout, rheumatism, uric acid diathesis, constipation acute and chronic, hepatic torpor, obesity, Bright’s disease, albuminuria of pregnancy, asthma, incontinence of urine, gravel, cystitis, urinogenital disorders, headache, neuralgia and lumbago. Lithium as a substitute for table salt became the predominant interest in the 1940’s for cardiac patients. However, individuals on low-sodium diets with impaired renal function were on diuretics, and combined with excessive amounts of lithium, led to several deaths. In 1949 Australian psychiatrist John Cade, M.D., discovered that when guinea pigs were injected with lithium urate, they became lethargic. This led to the investigation of lithium used for manic individuals to control mainly bipolar disorder.

Lithium’s discovery has given the medical field the ability to treat patients for variety of illnesses. The most prevalent use of lithium is for the treatment of bipolar disease. Bipolar disease is characterized by extreme mood swings between two opposite poles. The first extreme mood is termed mania. The distinguishing factors of mania consist of exaggerated euphoria, irritability, or the combination of both. Depression is at the opposite end of the spectrum. In this phase, the individual will have such symptoms as sad mood, fatigue, sleep issues, changes in appetite, guilt, loss of pleasure, thoughts of suicide, etc. Lithium is most commonly used in the treatment of bipolar individuals to prevent suicide. According to Brown University (1999), lithium decreases suicide by seventy-seven percent. Lithium to a lesser extent is used to treat unipolar depression. Unlike bipolar disease, unipolar depression consists of the extreme depressive state without the manic phase (dictionary, 2005). According to the American Society of Health (2004), lithium can be used to treat the following issues; blood disorders, cluster headaches, premenstrual tension, bulimia, alcoholism, syndrome of inappropriate secretion of ADH, hyperthyroidism, postpartum affective psychosis, and corticosteroid-induced psychosis. At a conference on lithium at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, researchers presented new possible uses for lithium (article 5 journals). The new information indicated that lithium could be a possible treatment for cancer and the AIDS virus. The researchers believe that lithium could halt the disease process of these deathly illnesses.

Lithium, approved by the FDA, is a very strong substance. When taking lithium, the patient must follow instructions given to them very carefully. According to the National Library and National Institute (2004), lithium generally comes as a tablet, capsule, extended release tablet or a liquid taken by mouth. The amount of lithium each individual consumes varies. Side effects can occur, and the individual must continue to take lithium, or decrease the dosage gradually as prescribed by the doctor (National Library & National Institute, 2004).

Lithium, generally used to prevent extreme mood changes, had been used for the past fifty years; however, how the drug worked had remained a mystery until recently. The research was done by pharmacologist Lowell Hokin and his colleagues