Lithium in water ‘curbs suicide’

[Phred42]

Lithium in water ‘curbs suicide’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8025454.stm


Drinking water which contains the element lithium may reduce the risk of suicide, a Japanese study suggests.

Researchers examined levels of lithium in drinking water and suicide rates in the prefecture of Oita, which has a population of more than one million.

The suicide rate was significantly lower in those areas with the highest levels of the element, they wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

High doses of lithium are already used to treat serious mood disorders.

But the team from the universities of Oita and Hiroshima found that even relatively low levels appeared to have a positive impact of suicide rates.

Sorry posted in the wrong place

[HopeHoops]

1. That's why I soak all of my batteries in my drinking water.

I was wondering why they weren't working so well.

[phantom power]

2. I feel a threat to my purity of essense.

[pscot]

6. Peace on Earth

And elsewhere too, of course.

[aquart]

3. I don't know why this makes me laugh.

There are so many drugs in my water now, how do they know which one it is?

[cbayer]

4. Not surprising.

I believe that the discovery of Lithium as a treatment for Bipolar Disorder occured because there was a very low incidence of the disorder in certain areas. It was discovered that these areas had higher than normal levels of Lithium in the drinking water.

At least that is the story I have been told.

:hi:

[lynnertic]

8. I read that Cuban cigars are so prized because the tobacco is grown in

lithium-rich soil.

[angstlessk]

5. one wonders how many other industrial sludges help us?

there is also flouride..a by product that is actually a toxic chemical

maybe we will discover if we eat nuclear waste we can live to ooohhh say 25 and be rich?

[depakid]

10. It's naturally occurring

One such spring can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithia_Park

(There's a fountain in the park that you can try- although the water's an "acquired taste" to say the least)

The discovery of its usefulness in treating for bipolar disorders, however, came quite by accident.

An Australian doctor, John Cade, along with many others, suffered terribly as a prisoner of war in the infamous Changi POW camp that the Japanese operated in Singapore. He showed great courage and compassion as a physician during this period, and some believe his POW experiences stimulated his interest in mental health.

After WWII, Dr Cade, who was also a psychiatrist, began his experiments with lithium. As with many important scientific breakthroughs, Dr Cade's discovery came about as an accident.

His original theory was that manic patients had a metabolic disorder, indicated by excessive urea in their urine. In other words, Cade was researching the historic misconception that there was some connection between mania and urea.

Cade tested his theory by injecting uric acid into guinea pigs. To do this he used lithium urate, simply because it was so highly soluble. To Cade's surprise, he found this produced a calming effect instead of increased excitation.

Through a series of very careful experiments on both guinea pigs and people, it was proven that lithium had a pronounced effect on mania.

This discovery was quickly followed by the finding that lithium also helped with the depressive symptoms of bipolar.

Cade's remarkably successful results were detailed in his paper, Lithium salts in the treatment of psychotic excitement, published in the Medical Journal of Australia (1949).

The significance of what John Cade achieved is hard to overestimate - the first effective medication to treat a mental illness! Not only that, but in the form of a cheap and natural mineral salt. Remember - this happened at a time when manic depression either went untreated, or cures were attempted through crude, early forms of lobotomies and electric shock treatment.

http://www.bipolar-lives.com/who-discovered-lithium.html

[Myrina]

7. It's been a longstanding joke that there's Prozac in Indianapolis' water supply ...

... no other logical explanation for the amount of consistent sheep-ly behavior that goes on here .... :shrug:

[bananas]

9. Mineral content of water supplies is an environmental issue, so this is the right place.