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Impact of Lithium Therapy on Core Psychotic Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Frank P. Zemlan ,
Jack Hirschowitz ,
Frederic J. Sautter  and
David L. Garver
Frank P. Zemlan
Affiliation:
Psychobiology Research Laboratory
Jack Hirschowitz
Affiliation:
Psychobiology Treatment Unit
Frederic J. Sautter
Affiliation:
Psychobiology Research Division Department of Psychiatry, Mail Location #59, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati OH 45267
David L. Garver
Affiliation:
Psychobiology Research Division Department of Psychiatry, Mail Location #59, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati OH 45267
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Summary

The authors have previously reported that a sub-group of schizophrenic-like patients respond favorably to lithium therapy: furthermore, psychotic patients who respond to lithium demonstrate appreciable improvement during the first seven days of treatment. The present study investigated which symptoms of schizophrenia improved quickly during lithium treatment. We found that patients who do respond to lithium show significant improvement in the core symptoms of psychosis—hallucinations, delusions and formal thought disorder—during the first seven days of treatment, thus allowing early identification of 88 per cent of schizophrenic patients who ultimately respond to lithium and 91 per cent of those who do not.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 1 , January 1984 , pp. 64 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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