Lithium is used to reduce chemicals in your body that cause mania or excitation. Lithium orotate is marketed as an alternative to lithium carbonate, which is used to treat manic depression bipolar disorder, according to Dr. Ray Sahelian of Los Angeles. Lithium orotate may have other applications as well. Use lithium orotate under a doctor's supervision and make sure your doctor knows if you have heart, kidney or thyroid problems, have low sodium levels in your body or are dehydrated, say the experts at Drugs.com. Avoid lithium if you're pregnant.
Treating Manic Depression
Lithium most commonly is used to treat manic depression, and is used to lessen intensity of or prevent manic episodes. Symptoms can include rushed speech, poor judgment, hyperactivity, reduced need for sleep, anger and aggression, according to Drugs.com. There's not a significant difference in the pharmacokinetics--meaning the way the body processes and uses lithium orotate--in comparison to lithium chloride or lithium carbonate, notes D.F. Smith, author of a study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.
Fighting Alcoholism
Lithium orate may help recovering alcoholics, says H.E. Sartori, author for a study published in the journal Alcohol. Sartori treated patients in a private clinical setting for six months, many of whom had been hospitalized at least once due to their alcoholism. Lithium orotate proved useful as the main pharmacologic agent for treating alcoholism in these people, Sartori says. Ten of the 42 patients studied avoided relapse for up to 10 years; 13 people avoided relapse for one to three years. The other 12 had relapses within the first year.
Treating Graves' Disease
Lithium orate may be helpful in treating Graves' disease. This disease is the most common form of hyperthyroidism, according to the Mayo Clinic. With Graves', your immune system mistakenly attacks your thyroid gland. This causes the gland to overproduce the hormone thyroxine, which can affect your mood and physical appearance. One method for treating Graves' is radioactive iodine treatment. However, your serum thyroid hormone concentrations actually increase immediately following this therapy, notes F. Bogazzi, lead author for a study published in the Journal of Clinical Edocrinology and Metabolism. This phenomenon is caused either by antithyroid drug withdrawal before the therapy or the release of pre-formed thyroid hormones into your bloodstream from your thyroid. Lithium is helpful because it blocks the release of iodine and thyroid hormones from your thyroid. Thus, a short course of lithium therapy brings about quicker control of thyrotoxicosis, meaning elevated thyroid hormone levels. This enhances the effectiveness of radioactive iodine treatment, Bogazzi says. Your body needs iodine to make thyroid hormone, the Mayo Clinic says. Taking radioactive iodine, which collects in your thyroid, can destroy overactive thyroid cells and cause your thyroid gland to shrink, which eventually lessens problems, the Mayo Clinic says.
References
- Drugs.com: Lithium
- "British Journal of Pharmacology"; Lithium orotate, carbonate and chloride: pharmacokinetics, polyuria in rats; D.F. Smith; 1976
- Ray Sahelian: Lithium Orotate
- PubMed: "Alcohol"; Lithium orotate in the treatment of alcoholism and related conditions; H.E. Sartori; 1986
- PubMed: "Journal of Clinical Edocrinology and Metabolism"; Treatment with lithium prevents serum thyroid hormone increase after thionamide withdrawal and radioiodine therapy in patients with Graves' disease; F. Bogazzi et al.; 2002
