Lithium in Neuropsychiatry: The Comprehensive Guide PDF

Preface

Lithium in Neuropsychiatry offers a comprehensive outline of the many uses of lithium in neuropsychiatric disorders as well as indications for its use in internal medicine. We intended it primarily for use by clinicians – physicians and other health-care workers who use lithium to treat patients suffering from these disorders. Thus, it addresses various aspects of effective and safe use of lithium in clinical practice. But, because the book also provides an up-to-date description of basic neuroscience relevant for the use of lithium and of the variety of lithium's effects in the brain and human body, it will also serve interested researchers. The contributors to this book are all experts in their fields and internationally recognized for their significant contributions to lithium research.

Lithium was discovered almost 200 years ago and has been used in medicine in one form or another for almost 150 years. Since its introduction into psychiatry in 1949, many new aspects of its use in psychiatry and the neurosciences have been discovered in basic and clinical research.

Lithium is intriguing for several reasons. It is a simple element easily found in the periodic table, yet it has demonstrated a unique, striking efficacy in many patients with bipolar and unipolar mood disorders. Although its value has now been established for several decades, its clinical use varies markedly among different countries. Its value as a suicide-preventing agent is being increasingly recognized and has spurred new interest in lithium's use. The ability of lithium to significantly reduce suicidal risk distinguishes it from other moodstabilizing agents that are available today. Furthermore, basic research has recently revealed that lithium may possess demonstrable neuroprotective properties. These new data suggest that lithium may become useful in the prevention and treatment of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders.

We are very grateful to the authors, who with their contributions to this book have provided clinicians and patients with a rich source of knowledge and experience. We would also like to thank Catherine Aubel, Arlene Fox and Anke Schlicht for their general and editorial assistance.