ReviewClinical drug investigation2017
Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in a Lifetime Perspective: Is Lithium Still the Best Choice?
Review in Clinical drug investigation, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Use of Lithium in Pediatric Bipolar Disorders and Externalizing Childhood- related Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Current neuropharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Stabilization Beyond Mood: Stabilizing Patients With Bipolar Disorder in the Various Phases of Life.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Bipolar Disorder XI: Continuous Decline of Lithium Response Inversely Correlated to Time Before Drug Administration in Relation to Onset of a Bipolar Disorder.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Bipolar Disorder VI: Long-Term Follow-Up of Suicide Attempts and Prophylactic Effect of Lithium Treatment in Bipolar Affective Disorder.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Baseline NMR lipoprotein profiles in lithium-naïve bipolar disorder patients who later showed weight gain during lithium therapy: a pilot study.International journal of bipolar disorders · 2026Article
- Bipolar Disorder VII: Family History and Its Relationship With Suicide Attempts, Severity, and the Prophylactic Effect of Lithium Treatment in a Long-Term Follow-Up Study of Bipolar Disorder.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Lithium-induced neuroprotection in bipolar disorder: Translational insights into cytoskeletal and proteomic mechanisms.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Review
- Predictors of valproic acid steady-state serum levels in adult and pediatric psychiatric inpatients: a comparative analysis.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Pseudodementia in Patients with Unipolar and Bipolar Disorders: A Case Series and Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- The Nrf2 Pathway in Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review of Animal and Human Studies.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- A Review: Integrative Perspectives on the Features and Clinical Management of Psychotic Episodes in Pregnancy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Lithium and Valproic Acid in Bipolar Disorders and Beyond.Current neuropharmacology · 2023Article
- From Unipolar to Bipolar: The Diagnostic Evolution in an Elderly Man.Case reports in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Pharmacological Strategies for Bipolar Disorders in Acute Phases and Chronic Management with a Special Focus on Lithium, Valproic Acid, and Atypical Antipsychotics.Current neuropharmacology · 2023Article
- Factors associated with lifetime suicide attempts in bipolar disorder: results from an Italian nationwide study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2022Article
- The Attentional Boost Effect in Young and Adult Euthymic Bipolar Patients and Healthy Controls.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Article
- Hamlet's augury: how to manage discontinuation of mood stabilizers in bipolar disorder.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2021Review
- Beyond Amitriptyline: A Pediatric and Adolescent Oriented Narrative Review of the Analgesic Properties of Psychotropic Medications for the Treatment of Complex Pain and Headache Disorders.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- COVID-19 Pandemic and Psychiatric Symptoms: The Impact on Parkinson's Disease in the Elderly.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Targeting Hormones for Improving Cognition in Major Mood Disorders and Schizophrenia: Thyroid Hormones and Prolactin.Clinical drug investigation · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Lithium preparations have been successfully used to treat bipolar disorder (BD), and remain the best established long-term treatment for the disorder. In fact, lithium is a cornerstone of treatment to minimize the risk of recurrences and improve inter-episodic symptomatology. We reviewed the available evidence for the use of lithium in the treatment of BD, including its efficacy, limitations, and potential benefits also in consideration of the different formulations available. We also overviewed salient comparative aspects regarding the long-term alternative use of anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and antipsychotics in BD patients. The available evidence indicates that BD patients should be treated primarily with lithium, combined in some cases with antipsychotics especially in acute treatments, and sometimes, because of intolerance or inefficacy of lithium, with anticonvulsants. The use of adjunctive antidepressants should be limited to episodes of breakthrough depression. Lithium should be offered to the majority of BD patients as initial treatment especially when suicide ideation or behavior is present with adequate information about its long-term benefits and its potential side effects. Many patients can tolerate lithium without concomitant use of antidepressants, which may worsen the course of the illness or antipsychotics, which may cause severe long-term side effects.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.