title: Does lithium treatment still work? Evidence of stable responses over three decades.
abstract: To evaluate whether lithium treatment has been overvalued and may be no longer as effective as formerly, we reviewed published reports on long-term lithium treatment (1970-1996) as well as analyzing its clinical effects on 360 patients with DSM-IV bipolar disorder who entered into lithium maintenance monotherapy after 1970. Neither reported recurrence rates nor average proportions of time ill nor patient improvement of 50% or more during lithium maintenance therapy in a stable clinic setting has changed significantly since the 1970s. Unfavorable results in some settings may reflect accumulation over time of patients with complex, less treatment-responsive illnesses. Lithium is unmatched in research support for long-term clinical effectiveness against morbidity and mortality associated with depression or mania in bipolar I and II disorders. Data evaluated herein did not support suggestions that benefits of lithium have been exaggerated in the past or have been lost recently.
authors.affiliation: International Consortium for Bipolar Disorder Research, the Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Baldessarini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tondo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008094:Lithium / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D008094:Lithium