Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T15:36:35.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lithium Treatment in Schizophrenia and Schizo-Affective Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

N. J. Delva  and
F. J. J. Letemendia
N. J. Delva
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
F. J. J. Letemendia
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Between one third and one half of schizophrenic patients appear to benefit from treatment with lithium carbonate. An even higher proportion of schizo-affective patients benefit some showing complete recovery. Current unfavourable views on the use of lithium in schizophrenia are contested. Lithium as well as neuroleptics have a place in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Type
Review Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 141 , Issue 4 , October 1982 , pp. 387 - 400
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, P. E., Van Kammen, D. P. & Bunney, W. E. (1979) Antipsychotic effects of lithium in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 283–7.Google Scholar
Angst, J., Weis, P., Grof, P., Baastrup, C. & Schou, M. (1970) Lithium prophylaxis in recurrent affective disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 604–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aronoff, M. & Epstein, R. S. (1970) Factors associated with poor response to lithium carbonate: a clinical study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 472–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biederman, J., Lerner, Y. & Belmaker, R. H. (1979) Combination of lithium carbonate and haloperidol in schizo-affective disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 327–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blinder, M. G. (1968) Some observations on the use of lithium carbonate. International Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 4, 26–7.Google ScholarPubMed
Brockington, I. F., Kendell, R. E., Kellett, J. M., Curry, S. H. & Wainwright, S. (1978) Trials of lithium, chlorpromazine and amitriptyline in schizoaffective patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 162–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cade, J. F. J. (1949) Lithium salts in the treatment of psychotic excitement. Medical Journal of Australia, 36, 2, 349–52.Google Scholar
Cade, J. F. J. (1978) Lithium—past, present and future. In Lithium in Medical Practice, (eds. Johnson, F. N. and Johnson, S.). Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Fieve, R. R. Lithium therapy. In Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry/III, (eds. Kaplan, H., Freedman, A. and Sadock, B.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Forssman, H. & Walinder, J. (1970) Lithium effect as aid in psychiatric diagnostics. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplement, 219, 59–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, R. & Staton, E. D. (1979) Lithium in schizophrenia (letter). American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 1479–80.Google Scholar
Gerbino, L., Oleshansky, M. & Gershon, S. (1978) Clinical use and mode of action of lithium. In Psychopharmacology: A Generation of Progress, (eds. Lipton, M., DiMascio, A. and Killam, K.). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Gershon, S. & Yuwiler, A. (1960) Lithium ion: A specific psychopharmacological approach to the treatment of mania. Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 1, 229–41.Google Scholar
Glesinger, G. (1954) Evaluation of lithium in treatment of psychotic excitement. Medical Journal of Australia, 41, 277–83.Google ScholarPubMed
Glick, I. D. & Stewart, D. (1980) A new drug treatment for premenstrual exacerbation of schizophrenia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 21, 281–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gottfries, C. G. (1969) The effect of lithium salts on various kinds of psychiatric disorders. Acta Psychiatrics Scandinavica Supplement, 203, 157–67.Google Scholar
Growe, G. A., Crayton, J. W., Klass, D. B., Evans, H. & Strizich, M. (1979) Lithium in chronic schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 454–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirschowitz, J., Casper, R., Garver, D. L. & Chang, S. (1980) Lithium response in good prognosis schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 916–20.Google ScholarPubMed
Hussain, M. F. & Gommersall, J. D. (1978) The use of lithium in the treatment of schizo-affective disorders. In Lithium in Medical Practice, (eds. Johnson, F. N. and Johnson, S.). Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Jefferson, J. W. & Greist, J. H. (1977) Primer of Lithium Therapy. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Johnson, G., Gershon, S. & Hekimian, L. J. (1968) Controlled evaluation of lithium and chlorpromazine in the treatment of manic states: an interim report. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 9, 563–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, G. (1970) Differential response to lithium carbonate in manic depressive and schizo-affective disorders. Diseases of the Nervous System, 31, 613–15.Google ScholarPubMed
Johnson, G., Gershon, S., Burdock, E. I., Floyd, A. & Hekimian, L. (1971) Comparative effects of lithium and chlorpromazine in the treatment of acute manic states. British Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 267–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martorano, J. T. (1972) Target symptoms in lithium carbonate therapy. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 13, 533–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meiers, R. L. (1970) Lithium carbonate as an adjunct in the treatment of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia, 2, 87–91.Google Scholar
Melia, P. I. (1970) Prophylactic lithium: a double-blind trial in recurrent affective disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 621–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGennis, A. J. (1977) Lithium carbonate in schizoaffective states. British Medical Journal, 2, 124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noack, C. H. & Trautner, E. M. (1951) The lithium treatment of maniacal psychosis. Medical Journal of Australia, 36, 219–22.Google Scholar
Perris, C. (1978) Morbidity suppressive effect of lithium carbonate in cycloid psychosis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 328–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prien, R. F., Caffey, E. M. & Klett, C. J. (1972a) A comparison of lithium carbonate and chlorpromazine in the treatment of excited schizo-affectives. Archives of General Psychiatry, 27, 182–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prien, R. F. (1972b) Comparison of lithium carbonate and chlorpromazine in the treatment of mania. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 146–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prien, R. F. (1974) Factors associated with treatment success in lithium carbonate prophylaxis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 189–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prien, R. F. (1979) Lithium in the treatment of schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 852–3.Google Scholar
Procci, W. R. (1976) Schizoaffective psychosis: fact or fiction? Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 1167–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reiser, D. E. & Willett, A. B. (1976) A favorable response to lithium carbonate in a ‘schizo-affective’ father and son. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 824–7.Google Scholar
Rice, D. (1956) The use of lithium salts in the treatment of manic states. Journal of Mental Science, 102, 604–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schou, M. (1963) Normotyhmics, ‘mood normalizers’. British Journal of Psychiatry, 109, 803–9.Google ScholarPubMed
Schou, M., Juel-Nielsen, N., Stromgren, E. & Voldby, H. (1954) The treatment of manic psychoses by the administration of lithium salts. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 17, 250–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Serry, M. (1969) Lithium retention and response. The Lancet, i, 1267–8.Google Scholar
Shopsin, B., Kim, S. S. & Gershon, S. (1971) A controlled study of lithium vs chlorpromazine in acute schizophrenics. British Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 435–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sikes, J. C. & Sikes, S. C. (1970) Lithium carbonate treatment in psychiatry. Diseases of the Nervous System, 31, 52–5.Google ScholarPubMed
Small, J. G., Kellams, J. J., Milstein, V. & Moore, J. (1975) A placebo controlled study of lithium combined with neuroleptics in chronic schizophrenic patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 1315–17.Google ScholarPubMed
Smulevitch, A. B., Zavidovskaya, G. I., Igonin, A. L. & Mikhailova, N. M. (1974) The effectiveness of lithium in affective and schizo-affective psychoses. British Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 65–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solomon, K. (1979) Lithium in schizophrenia (letter). American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 1480.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1975) Research Diagnostic Criteria, 2nd edition. New York: Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute.Google ScholarPubMed
Spring, G. K. (1980) The relative efficacies of lithium and alternative modes of treatment. In Handbook of Lithium Therapy, (ed. Johnson, F.). Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Taheri, A. (1976) Lithium in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 10, 1208.Google ScholarPubMed
Tupin, J. P., Smith, D. B., Clanon, T. L., Kim, L. I., Nugent, A. & Groupe, A. (1973) The long-term use of lithium in aggressive prisoners. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 14, 311–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Kammen, D. P. & De Fraites, E. G. (1979) Lithium treatment in schizophrenia: a review of treatment and prophylaxis in schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorders, and periodic catatonia. In Lithium, Controversies and Unresolved Issues, (eds. Cooper, T. B., Gershon, S., Kline, N. S. and Schou, M.). Amsterdam: Exerpta Medica.Google Scholar
Van Putten, T. & Sanders, D. G. (1975) Lithium in treatment failures. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 161, 255–64.Google ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Watanabe, S. & Ishino, H. (1980) Special cases of affective disorder and their treatment with lithium. In Handbook of Lithium Therapy, (eds. Johnson, F.). Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
White, R. B., Schlagenhauf, G. & Tupin, J. P. (1966) The treatment of manic depressive states with lithium carbonate. In Current Psychiatric Therapies, Vol 6, (ed. Wasserman, J.). New York: Grune and Stratton.Google Scholar
Zall, H., Per-Olof, G. T. & Myers, J. M. (1968) Lithium carbonate: a clinical study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 549–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.