An alkali metal, the salt of which is used in the treatment of acute mania and as a maintenance medication to help reduce the duration, intensity, and frequency of recurrent affective episodes, especially in bipolar disorders. Also may be used as an adjuvant treatment for depression. Marketed under the brand name lithobid; may also be known by the discontinued brand names eskalith, lithonate, and lithotabs.
Lithium, used in the treatment of mania and bipolar disorders.
Drug used to treat manic episodes of bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder. Adverse effects include kidney damage, salt and water retention, and sometimes disturbances in mental and muscular functioning.
A drug widely used in the prophylaxis and treatment of certain forms of mental illness. The drug should be given only on specialist advice. The major indication for its use is acute mania, where it induces improvement or remission in over 70 per cent of such patients. In addition, it is effective in the treatment of manic-depressive patients, preventing both the manic and the depressive episodes. There is also evidence that it lessens aggression in prisoners who behave antisocially, and in patients with learning difficulties who mutilate themselves and have temper tantrums.
A drug used to treat bipolar disorder. Given orally, it is readily absorbed and eliminated at a fast rate for 5 to 6 hr and much more slowly over the next 24 hr.