Newest Meta-Analysis Shows Lithium Is Better than Placebo at Preventing Both Mania and Depression
A 2004 meta-analysis of previous research showed that lithium was better than placebo at preventing affective episodes and preventing manic episodes. The evidence for the drug’s efficacy in preventing depression was less clear. A new meta-analysis by E. Severus et al. (not yet published) confirms the previous findings and provides new evidence that lithium is also better than placebo at preventing depressions.
The study also suggested that lithium is better than anticonvulsant mood stabilizers at preventing relapse and recurrence, but this finding only reached statistical significance in the prevention of new manic and hypomanic episodes.
Editor’s Note: These findings highlight the desirability of greater lithium use. The drug is currently prescribed less often in the US than it is in Europe. In addition to lithium’s efficacy in the long-term preventative treatment of bipolar disorder, there is evidence that lithium is also the best agent for suicide prevention and for neuroprotective effects.
