Lithium salt Articles and Information are chemical salts of lithium used as mood stabilizing drugs, primarily in the treatment of bipolar disorder, depression, and mania; but also in treating schizophrenia. Usually Lithium treatment is used to sedate overactive and euphoric patients. Initially, lithium is often used in conjunction with antipsychotic drugs as it can take a few days for lithium to have an effect. Lithium treatment is generally considered to be unsuitable for children. In long-term use, therapeutic concentrations of lithium have been thought to cause histological and functional changes in the kidney. The significance of such changes is not clear but is of sufficient concern to discourage long-term use of lithium unless it is definitely indicated. Patients should therefore be maintained on lithium treatment after 3-5 years only if, on assessment, benefit persists. Conventional and sustained-release tablets are available but it should be noted that different preparations vary widely in bioavailability and a change in the formulation used requires the same precautions as initiation of treatment. There seem few if any reasons for preferring one or other of the simple salts of lithium; the carbonate has been the more widely used but the citrate is also available.
