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M. J. Friedrich

JAMA. 1999;281:2271-2273.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Lexington, Ky—In 1949, Australian psychiatrist John Cade published a paper detailing the value of using lithium salts to treat acute mania. Half a century later, lithium is still used in the treatment of mood disorders, particularly bipolar illness, and ongoing research is providing evidence for other benefits of the drug, including an antisuicidal effect. To celebrate 50 years of lithium's medical usefulness, more than 300 medical professionals gathered here to discuss their lithium research.

The therapeutic benefits of lithium were appreciated prior to Cade's research, said James W. Jefferson, MD, of the Lithium Information Center at Madison Institute of Medicine in Wisconsin. Lithium, an alkali metal and the lightest of the solid elements, was discovered in 1817. Not long after its discovery, physicians began to use the drug in the treatment of diseases such as gout, and in the latter part of the 1800s, British physician . . . [Full Text of this Article]