The British Journal of Psychiatry 139: 59-61 (1981)
© 1981 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Physiological characteristics of tremor after chronic lithium therapy
P Tyrer, I Lee and C Trotter
Twenty-three patients taking lithium carbonate alone in therapeutic dosage
for a mean period of 43 months (range 6--108 months) and 23 control
subjects matched for age and sex had the frequency and amplitude of
postural tremor measured and extrapyramidal symptoms assessed by standard
techniques. Patients on lithium had a significantly lower peak frequency of
tremor than control subjects (P less than 0.05) and significantly greater
extrapyramidal symptoms (P less than 0.01), indicating that tremor
appearing after chronic lithium therapy is likely to be an extrapyramidal
symptom. Such symptoms are common long-term adverse effects of lithium
carbonate.