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Lithium Carbonate Dissertation Example

5 / 5. 1

Discipline:
Chemistry
Chapter:
Abstract
Level:
Master's
Pages:
2
Words:
550
View Sample

Free Lithium Carbonate Dissertation Example

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Psychotropic Medication: Lithium Carbonate Lithium carbonate is a drug that was discovered in 1817 and initially used in the treatment of gout, cancer, and epilepsy (Dubovsky, 2000, p. 1). The medication treated gout by dissolving uric acid components found in gouty phalanges. However, after some time, lithium was pronounced ineffective and became old-fashioned in the medicinal chemistry. About fifty years later, John Cade, a psychiatrist from Australia administered a test on guinea pigs by injecting lithium urate to the animals. After a while, the effects manifested themselves in the form of calmness. The results of the experiment prompted him to use the compound as a drug to treat mental illnesses by mood stabilization for patients with periods of excessive excitement, overactivity, and delusions. The first ten mentally bipolar patients responded positively to the treatment (Dubovsky, 2000, p. 1). The drug quickly substituted the psychotropic drugs in Australia. In fact, it is the oldest psychoactive drug in history, and it is listed on the World Health Organizations list of essential, efficient and safe medications required in any health system. The medicine treats extreme depressions, impulse control disorders, and some psychiatrist syndromes in children. The drug also reduces the likelihood of a patient committing suicide, a unique benefit which is not manifested by other medications (Dubovsky, 2000, p. 1). Lithium is not atypical for a mental disorder but is sometimes combined with atypical antipsychotics like Olanzapine in the long-term treatment of bipolar and manic conditions. Lithium carbonate has a lot of side effects. For example, it causes dehydration which can be very dangerous to the patients. Dehydration leads to an increase in the number of lithium salts, therefore, raising the concentration of its salts in the blood. Secondly, lithium causes defects in some fetuses and new-born babies if...
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