Lithium compounds medicines

Lithium compounds are used in ceramics, lubricants, and medicine. Small daily doses of lithium carbonate are an effective treatment for bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder but scientists still do not fully understand why. Lithium soaps—the lithium salts of long-chain carboxylic acids—are used as thickeners in lubricating greases for high-temperature applications because they have higher melting points than more conventional sodium and potassium soaps. 

Uses. — Lithium compounds are used in increasing amounts in the manufacture of glass. The. chief uses of lithium salts for some years has I men in medicine and pyrotechnics. 

Lithium, medicinal use of, 11 (1975) 193 Local anaesthetics, 3 (1963) 332 Lonidamine and related compounds, 21... 

Leprosy, chemotherapy, 20 (1983) 1 Ligand-receptor binding, 23 (1986) 41 Linear free energy, 10 (1974) 205 5-Lipoxygenase inhibitors and their antiinflammatory activities, 29 (1992) 1 Literature of medicinal chemistry, 6 (1969) 66 Lithium, medicinal use of, 11 (1975) 193 Local anaesthetics, 3 (1963) 332 Lonidamine and related compounds, 21 (1984)111... 

In addition to the use of chlorine as an antiseptic for swimming pools and drinking water, large amounts are used during industrial processes that produce paper, plastics, textiles, dyes, medicines, insecticides, solvents, and some paints. Following are some of the more important compounds of chlorine used in industries hydrochloric acid (HCl + H O), table salt (NaCl), chloroform (CHCL ), carbon tetrachloride (CCy, magnesium chloride (MgCl ), chlorine dioxide (CIO ), potassium chloride (KCl), and lithium chloride (LiCl). 

Lithium carbonate is used in enamels, specialty glasses and special ceramic wares. It is used to produce glazes on ceramics and porcelains. It also is used as an additive to molten aluminum fluoride electrolyte in Hall-Heroult process. It is the starting material to prepare many other hthium salts. The compound also is used in medicine as an antidepressant. 

Metallic elements used in medicine include lithium for treating manic depressive illness, platinum complexes such as c/.s-platin (2), which act as antitumor agents by combining with DNA and inhibiting cell division, and gold compounds used to treat arthritis. 

Lithium has various medicinal uses, though at certain levels it can be toxic. In the nineteenth century, lithium was used as a treatment for gout, a painful condition where uric acid builds up around certain joints, particularly around the feet. As uric acid builds up, its molecules form crystals. These crystallized molecules are fairly insoluble, which can hamper treatment. However, doctors discovered that if lithium was incorporated into the uric acid compounds, the compound was more soluble, and thus easier to dissolve. Bathing in lithium-rich springs and spas soon became popular for treating gout. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the lithium was too diluted in these spa waters to have any beneficial effect. 

R 686 J. Deberitz and G. Boche, Industrial, Medicinal and Scientific Importance. Lithium and Its Compounds , Chemie in Unserer Zeit, 2003,37,258... 

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