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Lithium: evidence reconsidered

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Joanna Moncrieff
Joanna Moncrieff*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
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Extract

This review examines the evidence for the main current recommendations for lithium use in psychiatry and briefly summarises the literature on its adverse consequences, in an attempt to develop an overall evaluation of its potential role based on available evidence. An introduction to the history of lithium is given because it is suggested that in both the 19th and 20th centuries the social context in which lithium emerged, rather than the quality of the scientific evidence, was decisive in determining its adoption as a treatment.

Type
Evidece-Based Psychiatry
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 171 , Issue 2 , August 1997 , pp. 113 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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