This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD: Hello and welcome to all of you viewing this video and reading the transcript. I'm thrilled to have two illustrious guests here to raise the quality of today's conversation, which is about recent trends surrounding the decreasing use of lithium in the treatment of bipolar disorder.
Our first guest is Dr Kay Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a well-known author of many books about bipolar disorder. Kay's groundbreaking work has helped redefine how we think about this condition so that everyone, not just physicians, can better understand it.
Our second guest is Dr Michael Ostacher, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, and the director of the Bipolar and Depression Research Program at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Michael has the unfortunate personal experience of having known me since medical school, so I apologize for that.
Welcome to both of you, and thank you for talking today about this important topic.
In a 2020 publication in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Rhee and colleaguesreported something that several others have as well in the past 20 years or so, which is that the use of lithium for the treatment of bipolar disorder has dramatically declined.
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COMMENTARY
Lithium Works for Bipolar Disorder. Why Aren't We Using It?
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD
DisclosuresJanuary 07, 2022
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD: Hello and welcome to all of you viewing this video and reading the transcript. I'm thrilled to have two illustrious guests here to raise the quality of today's conversation, which is about recent trends surrounding the decreasing use of lithium in the treatment of bipolar disorder.
Our first guest is Dr Kay Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a well-known author of many books about bipolar disorder. Kay's groundbreaking work has helped redefine how we think about this condition so that everyone, not just physicians, can better understand it.
Our second guest is Dr Michael Ostacher, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, and the director of the Bipolar and Depression Research Program at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Michael has the unfortunate personal experience of having known me since medical school, so I apologize for that.
Welcome to both of you, and thank you for talking today about this important topic.
In a 2020 publication in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Rhee and colleaguesreported something that several others have as well in the past 20 years or so, which is that the use of lithium for the treatment of bipolar disorder has dramatically declined.
Medscape Psychiatry © 2022 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Stephen M. Strakowski. Lithium Works for Bipolar Disorder. Why Aren't We Using It? - Medscape - Jan 07, 2022.
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Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author(s)
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Senior Vice President, Strategy and Transformation, University of Cincinnati Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
Disclosure: Stephen M. Strakowski, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: Roche; Procter & Gamble; Novartis; Sunovion
Received income in an amount equal to or greater than $250 from: Roche; Procter & Gamble; Novartis; Sunovion; Oxford University Press