title: Bipolar patients taking lithium have increased dark adaptation threshold compared with controls.
abstract: Recent epidemiological studies of mania suggest that admissions correlate with length of day and sunlight. As well, seasonal affective disorder--a depression occurring in winter, is reported to respond to light therapy and it has been proposed that supersensitivity to light is a trait-marker of manic-depressive illness. Dark adaptation threshold (D.A.T.)--a measure of night vision--was assessed in 19 euthymic manic-depressive patients stabilized on lithium, and in 19 drug-free healthy controls. The D.A.T. was significantly raised in the patients taking lithium. It is concluded that lithium induces subsensitivity to light.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Psychiatry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Carney
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seggie
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vojtechovsky
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grof
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grof
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003623:Dark Adaptation / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012684:Sensory Thresholds
chemical_list: D008094:Lithium