Lithium’s uses

The use of lithium in psychiatry has varied historically. In the nineteenth century, lithium salts were employed in the treatment of anxiety, as well as gout and seizures. The importance of lithium s antimanic actions was indirectly discovered, in 1949, with observations that it produced a calming effect in animals. Human testing in agitated or manic patients followed, with encouraging results. However, lithium s use did not gain acceptance in American medicine until 1970, due to safety concerns... 

Lithium s clinical value in psychiatry was discovered in 1949 by Cade, an Australian psychiatrist. At the time there were no effective treatments for any of the major psychiatric diseases, and the observation of the effect of lithium must therefore have been startling and exciting. Since the mid-1960s, lithium s use has escalated until it is now estimated that about 500,000 patients receive it, worldwide. The lack of potential for major commercial exploitation has restricted the development of lithium as compared with organic psychotherapeutic agents. Nevertheless, it is used by 60,000 patients in the United Kingdom alone, with an annual 25M saving to the health service. 

Other cardiovascular effects that may be induced by lithium include bradycardia and atrioventricular block. Changes on EKG including T-wave flattening are common. These effects are usually benign and reversible, but lithium s use in patients with significant cardiovascular disease should be with caution. 

Because of lithium s low density and high standard potential difference (good oxidation reduction characteristics), cells using lithium at the anode have a very high energy density relative to lead, nickel and even zinc. Its high cost limits use to the more sophisticated and expensive electronic equipment. 

Abstract. AGB stars, in particular those of carbon types, are excellent laboratories to constraint the theory of stellar structure, evolution and nucleosynthesis. Despite the uncertainties still existing in the chemical analysis of these stars, the determination of the abundances of several key species in their atmospheres (lithium, s-elements, carbon and magnesium isotopic ratios etc.) is an useful tool to test these theories and the mixing processes during the AGB phase. This contribution briefly review some recent advances on this subject. 

Handa et al. reported the synthesis of a phosphorus equivalent of Barthel s salts in which the hexavalent phosphorus(V) was coordinated by three bidentate ligands. 1.2-benzenediolato-O.C7. Its thermal stability is similar to that of its boron counterparts, and moderate ion conductivity was achieved in nonaqueous media. The authors attributed the less-than-satisfactory ion conduction to the large size of the anions, which increased the viscosity of the resultant electrolyte solutions. The anodic stability limit, as measured by voltammetry on a Ni electrode, was below 3.7 V. A preliminary test of this salt in EC/ THF was conducted in a lithium cell using the low potential cathode. V2O5. and the authors believed that this salt could be a superior electrolyte solute, judging from the utilized cell capacity that was close to the theoretical value. 

Lithium. Lithium has also been used in an attempt to circumvent craving. Like alcohol dependence, cocaine-dependent craving is believed by some, based on limited data, to result from a kindling effect that begins in one area of the brain and spreads to induce an intense desire to use. Lithium s success in treating bipolar disorder, another purportedly kindling-dependent illness, led to its use for cocaine dependence. Unfortunately, lithium has not proved very helpful and has been abandoned in the treatment of cocaine dependence. 

As noted earlier, lithium s efficacy as a maintenance therapy is one of the best-studied psychopharmacological effects. We have summarized all the placebo-controlled studies on the use of lithium to prevent relapse, including both unipolar and bipolar patients. We also performed a meta-analysis of these studies, separating out unipolar and bipolar patients (Table10-8 and Table 10-9). 

Reference electrodes are divided Into two groups. One comprises the saturated calomel electrode, its variants (such as the "lithium S.C.E.", Hg/Hg2Cl2(s.), LiCl( s)> and others of the same ilk), and the normal hydrogen electrode. These are almost Invariably prepared with water, so that their use with a non-aqueous solution entails a liquid-junction potential between the non-aqueous solution of the compound being studied and the aqueous solution In the reference electrode. Some workers have sought to circumvent this by preparing similar electrodes In the same solvents or solvent mixtures that contain the compounds they study when this has been done, the symbol "(o)" (for "organic") follows the abbreviation that would denote the ordinary aqueous form of the reference electrode. 

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