Lithium in water 'curbs suicide'

[dipsydoodle]

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.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8025454.stm

:shrug:

[LaurenG]

1. I grew up in El Paso and the water had (still has) lithium naturally

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905404,00.html

By legend Texans are a grandiose breed with more than the natural share of megalomaniacs. But University of Texas Biochemist Earl B. Dawson thinks that he detects an uncommon pocket of psychological adjustment around El Paso. The reason, says Dawson, lies in the deep wells from which the city draws its water supply.

According to Dawson's studies of urine samples from 3,000 Texans, El Paso's water is heavily laced with lithium, a tranquilizing chemical widely used in the treatment of manic depression and other psychiatric disorders. He notes that Dallas, which has low lithium levels because it draws its water from surface supplies, has "about seven times more admissions to state mental hospitals than El Paso." But state mental health officials point out that the mental hospital closest to Dallas is 35 miles from the city, while the one nearest El Paso is 350 miles away—and the long distance could affect admission figures.

But FBI statistics show that while Dallas had 5,970 known crimes per 100,000 population last year, El Paso had 2,889 per 100,000. Dallas (pop. 844,000) had 242 murders, El Paso (pop. 323,000) only 13. Dr. Frederick Goodwin, an expert on lithium studies for the National Institute of Mental Health, doubts that "lithium has these magical properties in the population." Others are not so sure. If lithium does have anything to do with the relative peace in El Paso, what would it do for other cities like New York and Chicago?

Since it is right across the border from Juarez and there were over 1400 murders in 2008 I have to wonder.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97752572

December 4, 2008 · Just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, sits the deadliest city in Mexico — Ciudad Juarez. These two cities are economically tightly intertwined, and the economic downturn in the U.S. is hurting the hundreds of assembly plants just across the border.

Meanwhile, a drug war that has killed some 1,400 people in Juarez this year alone is squashing tourism.

I'm glad they are studying the effects.

[semillama]

2. I assume you're familiar with the Kinky Friedman song then. n/t

[LaurenG]

3. No - but I just did a google search

I am assuming "Asshole from El Paso" :wow: is the one you are referring to. I noticed he's running for gov. in 2010.

Kinky Friedman steps toward the Governor's Mansion in 2010
http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/

[LaurenG]

8. OK it was funny...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50gPRSi3Ic&feature=PlayList&p=98DCB795D3F1CA63&index=0

[Why Syzygy]

4. I wonder if that explains,

at least partially, why when my family lived in El Paso (1/2 my high school years), I had more friends than all the other places combined? I can only think of one bully in school. All the cliques intermingled, geeks, jocks. Pot heads were the only stand alones. :D Yeah. Everyone seemed very well adjusted in that city, except the deacons at my dad's church.

[LaurenG]

5. lol - pot heads were the ones not causing any problems - at my school,

I had very few problems with relationships when I lived there come to think of it. :hi:

We were all drugged! :rofl:

[Why Syzygy]

7. Makes me kinda want to go back.

It wouldn't be nearly as much fun if you can't go to Juarez, though. I was pretty much in the party people crowd. :toast:
I don't drink any more, but there's still shopping and some of the products are not available on this side.

Besides the deacons, I think my mother must have been severely dehydrated too. Dang, I wish she had drank more water.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. 7-up originally included lithium ...

7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg who launched his St. Louis-based company The Howdy Corporation in 1920.<1> Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929.<1> It contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug. It was one of a number of patent medicine products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries; they made claims similar to today's health foods. Specifically it was marketed as a hangover cure. The product's name was soon changed to 7 Up.<1> <4>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Up