Prophylactic Lithium in Affective Disorders

A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled 12-Month Trial of Divalproex and Lithium in Treatment of Outpatients With Bipolar I Disorder

“…In placebo-controlled studies of lithium published in the 1970s, the duration of symptom-free maintenance therapy was used as the strongest evidence of lithium efficacy. 1,2,4,5,34,35 For example, Fieve et al 35 reported that patients treated with lithium remained in treatment for 40.1 months compared with 18.2 months for those treated with placebo (PϽ.01). Greil et al 36 found no significant difference between lithium and carbamazepine in survival time to an affective episode, but when the outcome criteria were broadened to include the time to use of concomitant medication, lithium was superior to carbamazepine.…”

“…Maintenance studies conducted a quarter of a century ago concluded that lithium was effective in preventing both manic and depressive episodes of bipolar disorder, [1][2][3][4][5] but more recent openlabel studies of lithium have reported less favorable treatment outcomes. [6][7][8][9][10] No placebo-controlled studies of maintenance therapy for bipolar disorder have been conducted in more than 25 years.…”

The effect of lithium salts on the urinary excretion of α‐oxoglutarate in man

“…The therapeutic efficacy of lithium ions in some manic depressive psychoses seems well established (Baastrup, Poulsen, Schou, Thomsen & Amdisen, 1970; Coppen, Noguera, Bailey, Burns, Swani, Hare, Gardner & Maggs, 1971;Hanna, Jenner, Pearson, Sampson & Thompson, 1972). The mode of action is, however, still obscure.…”

Prophylactic treatment in bipolar disorder

“…İUB sağaltımında vazgeçilmez bir basamak sayılan koruyucu sağaltımın önemi ancak 1970 sonrası yapılan çalışmalarla anlaşılmıştır (6,7). Yaklaşık 60 yıldır mizaç dengeleyici olarak kullanılan lityum ve ardından kullanı-ma giren antikonvulsan (valproik asit, karbamazepin, lamotrijin) ilaçlarla ilgili olumlu sonuçlar elde edilmiş olsa bile, günümüzde İUB neden olduğu sosyal ve maddi kayıplar nedeniyle önemini korumaktadır (8).…”