what is the drug Lithium used for?

Answer 1

Bipolar disorder!! My doc wanted to put me on it, i told the doc off. was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 years ago.

Answer 2

It's used to treat a mood disorder known as manic depression or bipolar disorder (two different names for the same thing). Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder in which the sufferer has severe mood swings lasting between several weeks and several months or years. Contrary to what some people believe, it does not mean that the person cycles between a good or bad mood every ten minutes or several times in one day. Lithium is better at handling the manic or elevated mood but is still effective at the depressed mood, if not too serious in some indivduals.

Answer 3

Lithium is administered in a number of chemical salts of lithium, which are used primarily in the treatment of bipolar disorder as mood stabilizing drugs. They are also sometimes used to treat depression and mania. =]

Answer 4

Lithium in pharmacology refers to the lithium ion, Li+, used as a drug. Lithium is administered in a number of chemical salts of lithium, which are used primarily in the treatment of bipolar disorder as mood stabilizing drugs. They are also sometimes used to treat depression and mania. Lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), sold as Carbolith®, Cibalith-S®, Duralith®, Eskalith®, Lithane®, Lithizine®, Lithobid®, Lithonate®, Lithotabs® and Maniprex®, is the most commonly prescribed, whilst the citrate salt lithium citrate (Li3C6H5O7), the sulfate salt lithium sulfate (Li2SO4), aspartate and the orotate salt lithium orotate are alternatives.

Upon ingestion Lithium becomes widely distributed in the central nervous system and interacts with a number of neurotransmitters and receptors, decreasing noradrenaline release and increasing serotonin synthesis.
Lithium treatment is used to treat mania in bipolar disorder. Initially, lithium is often used in conjunction with antipsychotic drugs as it can take up to a week for lithium to have an effect. Lithium is also used as prophylaxis for depression and mania in bipolar disorder. Also, it is sometimes used for other disorders, like cycloid psychosis, unipolar depression, migraine and others. It is sometimes used as an "augmenting" agent, to increase the benefits of standard drugs used for unipolar depression. Lithium treatment was previously considered to be unsuitable for children, however more recent studies show its effectiveness for treatment of early-onset bipolar disorder in children as young as eight.
The precise mechanism of action of Li+ as a mood-stabilizing agent is currently unknown. It is possible that Li+ produces its effects by interacting with the transport of monovalent or divalent cations in neurons. However, because it is a poor substrate at the sodium pump, it cannot maintain a membrane potential and only sustains a small gradient across biological membranes. Yet Li+ is similar enough to Na+ in that under experimental conditions, Li+ can replace Na+ for production of a single action potential in neurons.

Recent research suggests three different mechanisms which may act together to deliver the mood-stabilizing effect of this ion (Jope RS, Mol Psychiatry 1999 Mar; 4(2):117-28). An increasing number of scientists have come to the conclusion that the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate is the key factor in understanding how lithium works. Other mood stabilizers such as valproate and lamotrigine exert influence over glutamate, suggesting a possible biological explanation for mania. The other mechanisms by which lithium might help to regulate mood include the alteration of gene expression [1] and the non-competitive inhibition of an enzyme called inositol monophosphatase.

Unlike other psychoactive drugs, Li+ produces no obvious psychotropic effects, (such as euphoria) in normal individuals at therapeutic concentrations.

Answer 5

It is used for BPD...and also a range of other mental disorders. Have you heard of "The Lithium Shuffle"?

Answer 6

To treat manic depression. good enough, yes?

Answer 7

I THINK IT IS FOR BIPOLAR.