Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.
Oh, but God, I want to let it go.
Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone.
Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show.
Never wanted it to be so cold.
Just didn't drink enough to say you love me.
--Evanescence, "Lithium"
Lithium (sold under many brand names, including ESKALITH) is perhaps the most well-known bipolar disorder (BD) mood-stabilizing drugs.
But what exactly is this "wonder molecule"? Heck, lithium in and of itself isn't even a molecule! The active ingredients in lithium drugs is of course, lithium ion. I assume y'all know what an ion is, having read the section on the basics of neurobiology.
The mechanisms by which lithium may work are pretty complex and diverse, and many haven't really been tested, be it in the test tube or on humans. I'm still reading up on these and hopefully can write more on how lithium works its magic. If you look at the chemical periodic table of elements, you'll see that sodium and lithium are kissing cousins, one atop the other. Therefore, it's entirely possible that one possible way that lithium works is by the lithium ion "competing" with the sodium ion at our reuptake pumps (and you'd completely understand what I just said *ahem* if you read those neurobiology basics).
As far as the side effects, since lithium competes with sodium (and is probably more potent!), patients have to consume fair amounts of water (as well as sodium!) to ensure that other bodily functions dependent on sodium actually, well, function!.
The above was just a summary. For all intents and purposes, I pulled the above information out of my arse without really looking at authoritative sources. I'll be looking more seriously into these topics with the use of published sources (and of course, citations here) when it comes time to write up the full version of this topic, which I hope is soon!
Page last updated 17 January 2008.
