A Double-Blind Trial of Long-Term Lithium Therapy in Mental Defectives

Abstract

The therapeutic effect of lithium in mania was first described by Cade (1949), but the possibility that lithium could have a prophylactic action in recurrent affective disorders was not suggested until some years later (Hartigan, 1963; Baastrup, 1964). The early studies of the prophylactic action of lithium were open trials, in which both investigator and patient knew that the patient was receiving the drug. More recently, controlled double-blind studies have confirmed these early reports (Melia, 1970; Coppenet al., 1971; Cundallet al., 19712).

Diagnosis and Treatment of Mood Disorders in Adults with Developmental Disabilities

“…Fourteen studies or case reports were included in their analysis. Eight were descriptive studies [63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70], 2 investigated the efficacy of certain types of treatment [71,72], 3 combined description and treatment efficacy [73][74][75]) and 1 examined rating scales for mood disorders [76]. Methodologies were highly variable, numbers of patients per report were small (10 was the largest N) and outcome measures, if reported at all, were non-rigorous.…”

Treating Childhood Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities

“…By way of validation, family histories often contained cognitively normal relatives with affective disorders, and some response to lithium was observed (Carlson, 1979;Hasan & Mooney, 1979;Naylor, Donald, Le Poidevin, & Reid, 1974;Reid, Naylor, & Kay, 1981;Sovner & Hurley, 1981), with or without neuroleptics. In some cases, response to lithium was miraculous.…”

Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

“…In 1949, Cade introduced the use of lithium salts to quiet agitated manic states, however, it took 20 years before a technology was developed to manage lithium's toxicity. Naylor, Donald, Poidevin, and Reid, (1974) studied 14 patients over a 2-year-period and found that lithium was useful in the treatment of patients with dual diagnosis and frequently recurring affective changes or recurrent behavioral changes. Rivenus and Harmatz (1979) described a 3-year single-blind placebo-controlled trial of lithium in five institutionalized patients with ID and bipolar disorder.…”