Is lithium bad for children?

Is lithium bad for children?

A multicenter study of young patients with bipolar disorder provides what may be the most scientifically rigorous demonstration to date that lithium — a drug used successfully for decades to treat adults with the condition — can also be safe and effective for children suffering from it.

What are the most common side effects of lithium?

The most common side effects of lithium are feeling or being sick, diarrhoea, a dry mouth and a metallic taste in the mouth. Your doctor will carry out regular blood tests to check how much lithium is in your blood.

What age can kids take lithium?

For oral dosage form (extended-release tablets): For acute mania: Adults and children 12 years of age—900 milligrams (mg) 2 times a day, or 600 mg 3 times a day. Children younger than 12 years of age—Use is not recommended.

How does lithium affect behavior?

Lithium acts on a person’s central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Doctors don’t know exactly how lithium works to stabilize a person’s mood, but it is thought to help strengthen nerve cell connections in brain regions that are involved in regulating mood, thinking and behavior.

Does lithium increase IQ?

The average IQ did not differ between the lithium and the placebo groups after 3 months of treatment, but unlike in the placebo group the average IQ did increase significantly in children in the lithium group compared with the average IQ before the treatment.

Why is Priadel being discontinued?

The products will no longer be in supply from April next year, “due to restrictions on permitted pricing” that mean the manufacture and supply of the tablets is “no longer viable”, Essential Pharma told C+D earlier this week (August 19).

Can a 7 year old take lithium?

Optimal dosing strategies have been extensively studied in the pediatric literature. Findling et al. (8) argued for starting children, ages 7–17 and weighing 30 kg or more, on lithium 300 mg either twice or thrice daily and increasing the dose by 300 mg weekly thereafter, as tolerated to efficacy.

Is 300mg of lithium a lot?

Long-term Control: The desirable serum lithium levels are 0.6 to 1.2 mEq/l. Dosage will vary from one individual to another, but usually 300 mg of lithium carbonate t.i.d. or q.i.d., will maintain this level.

Does lithium damage the brain?

Prolonged lithium intoxication >2 mM can cause permanent brain damage. Lithium has low mutagenic and carcinogenic risk. Lithium is still the most effective therapy for depression.