The Impact of Lithium Long-Term Medication on Suicidal Behavior and Mortality of Bipolar Patients

Abstract

The article reviews the existing evidence and the concept of the anti-suicidal effect of lithium long-term treatment in bipolar patients. The core studies supporting the concept of a suicide preventive effect of lithium in bipolar patients come from the international research group IGSLI, from Sweden, Italy, and recently also from the U.S. Patients on lithium possess an eight- time lower suicide risk than those off lithium. The anti-suicidal effect is not necessarily coupled to lithium's episode suppressing efficacy. The great number of lives potentially saved by lithium adds to the remarkable benefits of lithium in economical terms. The evidence that lithium can effectively reduce suicide risk has been integrated into modern algorithms in order to select the optimal maintenance therapy for an individual patient.

Clozapine and lithium require Caenorhabditis elegans β‐arrestin and serum‐ and glucocorticoid‐inducible kinase to affect Daf‐16 (Foxo) localization

“…Lithium effectively suppresses mania and may be beneficial in the treatment of schizophrenia (Delva and Letemendia, 1982) and depression (Soares and Gershon, 1998). Lithium in combination with antipsychotic drugs has been reported to be effective for treatment-resistant forms of depression and to lower suicide rates in individuals with bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia (Bauer and Dopfmer, 1999;Cipriani et al, 2005;Muller-Oerlinghausen et al, 2005).…”

Pharmacologic Activation of Wnt Signaling by Lithium Normalizes Retinal Vasculature in a Murine Model of Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy

“…22 Lithium is a U.S. Food and Drug Administrationeapproved drug for treating bipolar disorder and other mental illness and has been used safely for more than half a century. 23 We investigated whether lithium treatment may protect against retinal vascular pathologies and visual function in the Lrp5 À/À mouse model of FEVR through restoring Wnt signaling.…”

Sixty Years of Lithium Responders

“…In addition to the well-demonstrated stabilization, lithium may also provide a variety of benefits [1] to other patients: potent antimanic, antipsychotic [2,3] and antiaggressive [4] effects, antisuicidal and mortality-reducing action [5][6][7] and antidepressant and antidepressantaugmenting potential. Compared to lithium stabilization, probably the most misunderstood effect of lithium has been its 'antipsychotic' value described best by Garver and his group [2,3] as well as by others [8,9] .…”