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A Double-Blind Trial of Long-Term Lithium Therapy in Mental Defectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Graham J. Naylor ,
J. M. Donald ,
David Le Poidevin  and
Andrew H. Reid
Graham J. Naylor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The University, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Angus
J. M. Donald
Affiliation:
Strathmartine Hospital, By Dundee, Angus
David Le Poidevin
Affiliation:
Royal Cornhill and Associated Hospitals, Aberdeen
Andrew H. Reid
Affiliation:
Strathmartine Hospital, By Dundee, Angus
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Extract

The therapeutic effect of lithium in mania was first described by Cade (1949), but the possibility that lithium could have a prophylactic action in recurrent affective disorders was not suggested until some years later (Hartigan, 1963; Baastrup, 1964). The early studies of the prophylactic action of lithium were open trials, in which both investigator and patient knew that the patient was receiving the drug. More recently, controlled double-blind studies have confirmed these early reports (Melia, 1970; Coppen et al., 1971; Cundall et al., 19712).

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 124 , Issue 578 , January 1974 , pp. 52 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1974 

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