Link found between suicide rate and lithium content in drinking water

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Lithium has traditionally been used in psychiatry with a proven ability to stabilize mood. It is used for the treatment of mental illnesses: manic and hypomanic states, for the prevention of affective bipolar and schizoaffective disorders.

Doses used in psychiatry are large enough - at least 200 milligrams per day, and side effects must be carefully controlled. But some studies show that even micro doses of the element, as little as 400 mcg per day, can lead to improved mood.

Over the years, many studies have hinted at a link between higher levels of lithium in community water supplies and lower suicide deaths in local populations. Now a team of scientists from the UK has conducted the first meta-analysis of research on lithium, confirming this connection.

“Higher levels of trace minerals lithium in drinking water may have anti-suicidal effects and improve mental health in the community,” - Anjum Memon, lead author of the study.

The meta-analysis included data from 15 studies collected from 1286 localities in Japan, Austria, USA, England, Greece, Italy and Lithuania. Average lithium levels found in drinking water samples ranged from 3.8 micrograms per liter (μg / L) to 46.3 μg / L.

An extensive analysis of these numbers showed that higher levels of lithium naturally occurring in drinking water were indeed associated with lower suicide deaths in a particular area.

As with any complex analysis of the available literature, the results are accompanied by important caveats. The team emphasizes that environmental research is done to generate hypotheses, and rather than being an answer, it basically just poses a question.

Learning about social classes, the prevalence of mental disorders in the population, and even how many people have moved to other areas can influence the observation results, not to mention the fact that the effects of the lithium we get from food have not been studied.

“In addition, bottled drinking water (processed or natural mineral water from springs) often has much higher lithium content than tap water - the relationship between lithium exposure through bottled water and suicide has not been studied,” the authors write.

In light of their findings, the researchers recommend randomized trials on the addition of lithium to water supplies as a “possible hypothesis test” alongside studies of food sources of lithium.

Lithium ions have a diverse effect on the nervous system, in particular, acting as an antagonist of sodium ions in nerve and muscle cells. Lithium also affects the metabolism and transport of monoamines (norepinephrine, serotonin), increases the sensitivity of certain areas of the brain to dopamine. However, due to the large number of side effects, contraindications, the deadly toxicity of lithium in large doses and, in general, the topic of interaction with the human body is not fully understood, it is not recommended to use drugs containing lithium salts for the prevention of a particular disease.