The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the association between lithium levels in the public water supply and prefecture-based suicide rates in Greece. Analyses were conducted with respect to lithium levels in 149 samples from 34 prefectures of Greece. The average lithium level was 11.10 μg/l (range 0.1 to 121 μg/l). The results indicate that there is a tendency for lower suicide rates in the prefectures with high levels of lithium in drinking water. Ecological studies explained by researchers Schrauzer and Shrestha have revealed the existence of statistically significant inverse associations between the lithium levels in drinking water and the incidence of suicides, homicides, rapes, possession of narcotic drugs, and in juveniles, the rates of runaway from home. Such a result of inverse relationship was not proven by Kabacs et al., most likely because the differences of the lithium levels in the selection of their case-control samples were not large enough. In addition, probably the selection of random regions in Japan and East England might have been biased. Thus, the addition of small amounts of lithium to the drinking water could provide an effective means to lower the incidence of these conditions in the general population. Furthermore, the nutritional importance of lithium in the form of the carbonate named lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) is currently still viewed primarily as a pharmacological agent. The study by Al-Chalabi et al. state that the therapeutic activity of lithium in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is worth investigating. Any drug that can be shown to slow the course of ALS in a clinically significant way and to be safe and well tolerated will be an important advance for patients with this disease.

No abstract

No abstract

The accumulation of hazardous contaminants in Cannabis sativa L. raises warning signs regarding possible adverse effects on human health due to the consumption of herbal medicines and/or other herbal edible products made from cannabis. Thus, there is an urge to investigate the levels of hazardous contaminants, such as heavy metals, in cannabis plant. In the present study, 29 macro and trace elements, including both beneficial and toxic elements (heavy metals and metalloids), were investigated in 90 samples of Cannabis sativa L. collected from Greece. According to the results, the detected concentrations of macro elements in the leaves/flowers of cannabis ranged between 28 and 138,378 ppm, and of trace elements between 0.002 and 1352.904 ppm. Although the concentrations of elements varied among the samples, their accumulation pattern was found to be similar, with the contribution of toxic elements to the total concentration of trace elements being below 1%. The detected levels of the most toxic elements were below the prescribed limits established by the WHO, while the calculated THQ and CR values showed no risk (non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic) for the population exposed to the current cannabis samples. Positive correlation between the concentration of elements and cannabis geographical origin and variety was observed. Cannabis leaves/flowers were more contaminated with trace and macro elements than seeds.