Objective: To review lithium's utility in the treatment of mood disorders.
Method: We reviewed the safety, tolerability, teratogenicity, optimal dosing regimens, and mortality-lowering effects of lithium. Clinical relevance and scientific rigour determined which articles we selected for review.
Results: Lithium is the paradigmatic treatment for bipolar disorder (BD). In treating BD, optimal maintenance plasma levels may be approximately 0.75 to 0.85 mEq/L. Although nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is not uncommon, irreversible renal failure due to lithium appears to be a rare, idiosyncratic event. Lithium-induced cardiovascular teratology appears to be less common than previously thought. Optimal lithium dosing may be once daily, this agent appears to bestow a robust suicide-lowering effect, and emerging data hint at neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects.
Conclusion: Lithium remains an effective and integral agent in the treatment of BD. Its ability to lower suicide rates in persons with BD warrants clinical attention.