Lithium treatment during alcoholic withdrawal.
The efficacy of lithium carbonate was studied in 18 chronic alcoholic male patients in withdrawal. In mild alcoholic withdrawal, oral lithium carbonate, 0.3 gm every 8 hr, diminishes subjective symptoms of withdrawal and normalizes performance on a motor tracking task. Patients who start lithium while drinking ethanol improve most probably because it takes longer than 3 days for lithium concentrations in the blood to plateau. Lithium does not importantly alter patterns of catecholamine excretion, blood pressures, heart rate, serum cyclic-adenosine monophosphate (AMP), serum dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH), sleep pattern, or tremor amplitude during withdrawal.
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001519:Behavior; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000097:blood; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase / Q000097:blood; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000652:urine; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000652:urine; D013997:Time Factors; D014202:Tremor / Q000188:drug therapy
D008094:Lithium; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase; D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine