Lithium has been the standard of treatment for bipolar disorders and is effective both in reducing manic symptoms as well as in preventing future episodes….Table 6.

Lithium helps reduce the severity and frequency of mania. It may also help relieve or prevent bipolar depression. Studies show that lithium can significantly reduce suicide risk. Lithium also helps prevent future manic and depressive episodes.

Lithium was found be effective in treating acute manic and depressive episodes, as well as in reducing the recurrence of mood episodes and minimizing the risk of suicidal behaviors (4, 5). Lithium is the lightest of all metals, with a density only half that of water.

With respect to the antisuicidal effect, lithium differs from other mood stabilizers as it reduces the risk of suicide not only through prevention of mood episodes, but also in lithium nonresponders, perhaps through a different mechanism. Some of the other effects of lithium are less specific.

Lithium plasma concentration should be checked 5-7 days (depending on renal function) after starting or changing dose and then weekly until two similar results are obtained at the same dose. bedtime dose so that blood can be taken the following morning.

Do not stop taking lithium suddenly or change your dose without speaking to your doctor first. It’s important you keep taking it, even if you feel better. If you stop taking it suddenly you could become unwell again very quickly.

Adverse effects were the most common cause for lithium discontinuation. Among the adverse effects, diarrhoea, tremor, creatinine increase, polyuria/polydipsia/diabetes insipidus and weight gain were the top five reasons for discontinuing lithium.

Second generation mood stabilizing anticonvulsants carbamazepine and valproate are now widely used as alternatives or adjuncts to lithium.

A common complaint made by those who take lithium, but one which may easily be overlooked, is cognitive compromise. Clinically, patients describe this as “brain fog”-an elusive admixture of complaints regarding attention, concentration, and memory occurring in conjunction with a slowing of thought processes.

If you need to stop taking lithium, it is best for you to come off it gradually, over at least four weeks, but preferably over three to six months. Gradually reducing the dose will make it less likely that your symptoms come back (compared to stopping the lithium quickly).

Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular battery storage option today, controlling more than 90% of the global grid battery storage market, according to some estimates.

Results: Long-term lithium treatment is associated with a reduced urinary concentrating ability, with subsequent polyuria and polidypsia and nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (in 10-40% of patients).

Prolonged lithium intoxication >2 mM can cause permanent brain damage. Lithium has low mutagenic and carcinogenic risk.

Investigating this, Cipriani et al. included eight RCTs with 782 patients and found a reduction in all-cause mortality in the lithium group of 2.31% over an average of around 81.5 weeks (Absolute risk: 5/392 (1.28%) vs. 14/392 (3.59%), absolute risk reduction: 2.31%, corresponding to an NNT = 43).

Dental Side Effects of Lithium People are more susceptible to particular dental issues when they lack saliva from lithium, such as tooth decay, gingivitis, and gum disease. The gums and other oral tissue can become red, inflamed, and ulcerated, making it painful to eat and follow a proper oral hygiene regimen.

Lithium has been associated with impaired memory, word finding difficulties, and impaired recall.

One study suggested an increasing risk of dementia with increasing numbers of lithium prescriptions,7 whereas the other study found that patients receiving long-term lithium therapy had decreased prevalence of Alzheimer disease compared with patients not receiving recent lithium therapy.

We found that a history of bipolar disorder significantly increases the risk of dementia in older adults. Our results provide robust evidence that mood disorders in general, and not only major depressive disorders, are associated with increased risk of dementia (17,18).

Bipolar disorder is associated with increased risk for dementia. We compared the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease between 66 elderly euthymic patients with bipolar disorder who were on chronic lithium therapy and 48 similar patients without recent lithium therapy.

People with bipolar disorder can also experience psychotic symptoms during a manic or depressive episode. These can include hallucinations or delusions. Because of this, people may mistake their symptoms of bipolar disorder for those of schizophrenia.