***UPDATE 1: Please note Dr. Schrauzer’s comment the end of this post. He adds some important insight about lithium’s impact during fetal development.
***UPDATE 2:
US government got it wrong on water fluoride recommendations per new data. It is now reducing recommended levels. This would be my concern about lithium supplementation.
“http://twitter.com/DrudgeReportUSA: In the remarkable Fox News report posted below, Dr. Archelle Georgiou, described as a well-recognized physician leader who helps consumers make better health care decisions, argues the case for adding lithium to the water supply. Georgiou is affiliated with the Center for Health Transformation, an organization founded by the notorious neocon Newt Gingrich.”
Evolution of proposal:
1990 study published using 1978-1987 data from Texas:
Biol Trace Elem Res. 1990 May;25(2):105-13.
Lithium in drinking water and the incidences of crimes, suicides, and arrests related to drug addictions.
Schrauzer GN, Shrestha KP.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at San Diego, Revelle College, La Jolla 92093.
Using data for 27 Texas counties from 1978-1987, it is shown that the incidence rates of suicide, homicide, and rape are significantly higher in counties whose drinking water supplies contain little or no lithium than in counties with water lithium levels ranging from 70-170 micrograms/L; the differences remain statistically significant (p less than 0.01) after corrections for population density. The corresponding associations with the incidence rates of robbery, burglary, and theft were statistically significant with p less than 0.05. These results suggest that lithium has moderating effects on suicidal and violent criminal behavior at levels that may be encountered in municipal water supplies. Comparisons of drinking water lithium levels, in the respective Texas counties, with the incidences of arrests for possession of opium, cocaine, and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, and codeine) from 1981-1986 also produced statistically significant inverse associations, whereas no significant or consistent associations were observed with the reported arrest rates for possession of marijuana, driving under the influence of alcohol, and drunkenness. These results suggest that lithium at low dosage levels has a generally beneficial effect on human behavior, which may be associated with the functions of lithium as a nutritionally-essential trace element. Subject to confirmation by controlled experiments with high-risk populations, increasing the human lithium intakes by supplementation, or the lithiation of drinking water is suggested as a possible means of crime, suicide, and drug-dependency reduction at the individual and community level.
2009 article in a British psychiatric journal reporting on a study of Japanese data leads to a bold proposal to add lithium to public water supplies in another British/American medical journal:
Br J Psychiatry. 2009 May;194(5):464-5
Lithium levels in drinking water and risk of suicide.
Ohgami H, Terao T, Shiotsuki I, Ishii N, Iwata N.
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
Although lithium is known to prevent suicide in people with mood disorders, it is uncertain whether lithium in drinking water could also help lower the risk in the general population. To investigate this, we examined lithium levels in tap water in the 18 municipalities of Oita prefecture in Japan in relation to the suicide standardised mortality ratio (SMR) in each municipality. We found that lithium levels were significantly and negatively associated with SMR averages for 2002-2006. These findings suggest that even very low levels of lithium in drinking water may play a role in reducing suicide risk within the general population.
Med Hypotheses. 2009 Nov;73(5):811-2. Epub 2009 May 19.
Even very low but sustained lithium intake can prevent suicide in the general population?
Terao T, Goto S, Inagaki M, Okamoto Y.
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Idaigaoka 1-1, Hasamamachi, Yufu, Oita 879-5593, Japan.
Although several meta-analyses have shown anti-suicidal properties of lithium in treating patients with mood disorders, these effects may be unrelated to the mood-stabilizing effects. Some epidemiological studies suggest that even very low lithium levels induced by routine consumption of lithium from tap water may have anti-suicidal effects both in patients with mood disorders and in the general population. We hypothesize that even very low but sustained lithium intake can prevent suicide in the general population. If this is the case, increasing lithium levels of drinking water could potentially reduce the risk of suicide, and justify administering lithium to tap water.
I think this might be a hard sell due to the Cuckoo’s Nest connotation attached to what will be perceived as mandatory medication with lithium.
I am a pharmacist. Lithium has zero effect ” other than death” on individuals without the ion channel defect which is a major cause of some of the mood disorders lithium benefits. Lithium is “POISON” AND AT ONE TIME FOR A SHORT PERIOD WAS USED AS A SALT SUBSTITUTE AND RESULTED IN MANY DEATHS FROM POISONING. UNLESS MR GINGRICH PLANS ON COMMITTING MURDER AS A MEANS OF CROWD CONTROL IT WILL HAVE ZERO VALUE AND THESE GUYS ARE BUNCH OF IDIOTS AND DO NOT UNDERSTAND NEUROSCIENCE.
It doesn’t seem wise to me either, Bruce. An employee of my water company admitted to me that they make mistakes with chlorine levels frequently. That made me wonder about fluoride, which sounds less acutely toxic than lithium, but still not something you’d want overdosed at all. At least I can smell the chlorine when they overdo it.
It’s a great discovery that some people might benefit from low levels of lithium, but it should be dispensed and monitored by a psychiatrist on an individual basis.
The fact that certain toxic elements are needed in trace amounts for the maintenance of health is evidently still not widely known. Lithium is one of them, For more information see G.N.Schrauzer, ‘Lithium: Occurrence, Dietary Intakes, Nutritional Essentiality’, J. of the American College of Nutrition, 21: 14-21 (2001).
Dr. Schrauzer,
Thank you for your comment. I don’t have access to the full text, but found an abstract for your article and it looks very interesting.
http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/21/1/14
I am still worried about water companies managing even trace supplementation of lithium. There are many cases of small water departments overdosing fluoride in water, (these facilities are run by local politics, rather than merit), and a major city in Australia recently had a problem. (I think a valve got stuck.)
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/fluoride-overdose-in-water/story-e6freon6-1225712063570
I wish lithium could be included perhaps in supplements for pregnant women instead. Knowing that lithium could have a developmental impact does attach more urgency to research regarding public health impacts, though. Thanks again for letting us know about that.
How about just keep your crap out of my water. It’s a violation of the constitution for one, and for two, just because you wrote some damn article in a journal no one reads doesn’t give you the right to put drugs in my water, food, or any other damn thing I may come into contact with.
Its a ridiculous idea to even think theres any way to control the intake of ‘trace’ poisons delivered through our water supply, because it ends up in our processed foods via their production methods, our soft drinks/concentrated juices, etc, and anything else that gets in contact with the contaminated water. There is no way to control the amount of chemicals a human takes in in their personal lives when they are delivered in this method.
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