Medical Uses for Lithium
Chemical salts containing the element lithium long have been of interest to the medical community and have been a primary method of treating depression and mania for several decades. While researchers still are not completely clear on how lithium works in the body, its use in bipolar treatment has greatly helped decrease the high suicide rate among sufferers of that condition. Lithium also can cause some dangerous side effects, however, so it must be used carefully and under strict supervision of medical professionals.
History
Lithium was probably used for medical purposes long before the element's 1817 discovery by Swedish chemist Johan August Arfwedson. Greek physician Galen nearly 2,000 years ago prescribed patients suffering with mania to bathe and drink water in alkaline springs, which probably contained the element. After its discovery, lithium was used to treat a number of ailments in the 1800s: epilepsy, diabetes, insomnia, cancer and gout. These treatments produces few results, however. In the 1940s, doctors recommended lithium chloride as a salt substitute for patients with high sodium levels, but this is no longer done because of the risk of lithium poisoning. It was about that time that Australian psychiatrist John Cade began experimenting with lithium as a treatment of manic behavior. Trials continued through the 1960s, and lithium finally gained the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval in the 1970s.
Bipolar Disorder Use
Lithium today is used mainly to help patients manage manic-depressive illness, also known as bipolar disorder. In drug forms such as Eskalith or Lithobid, lithium can cut down on a patient's number of manic and depression states and can make the occurrences of those states less severe. The drug gives patients more emotional control and a better ability to cope with problems by acting on the body's nervous system, according to the Mayo Clinic. Lithium medication requires a doctor's prescription and comes in the form of solutions, capsules, syrups and tablets.
Secondary Uses
While bipolar disorder treatment remains its primary use, lithium medication also has been shown to be effective in treating other conditions. Doctors have used it to treat patients with cluster headaches, depression and neutropenia, a condition in which the blood has a low white blood cell count, according to the Mayo Clinic. It also has been used with some success in trials to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive, fatal disease marked by the degeneration of motor neurons. In addition, it has been used in the treatment of certain forms of eczema, according to the British Medical Journal. Lithium can be used in combination with other drugs to treat other psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia.
Side Effects
Common side effects of lithium use include an increased level of thirst, more frequent urination or a loss of bladder control, mild nausea and slight tremors in the hands. Less frequently, lithium use can cause skin rashes, muscle twitching and a bloated, full feeling in the stomach. Up to 80 percent of users of lithium for bipolar disorder do not suffer any major side effects, however. An overdose of lithium is toxic. Early signs of a lithium overdose include diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, slurred speech, trembling and drowsiness.
Limitations
Despite its effectiveness, lithium is not designed for long-term use in bipolar disorder treatment. In particular, long-term use of lithium is damaging to the kidneys. It also can disrupt the function of the thyroid and can cause weight gain. While lithium is not an addictive medication, an abrupt end to lithium dosage can cause the symptoms it was treating to return quickly. Doctors instead recommend a tapering off of lithium usage, over the course of several weeks or, preferably, months.
Tags: bipolar disorder, side effects, according Mayo, according Mayo Clinic, also been, been used, bipolar disorder treatment
