Suicide and Symmetry

Suicide is a very aggressive act. According to JAMA, the journal of American Medical Association, more than 30,000 Americans succeeded in committing suicide in 2001, 10,000 more than those killed in homicides that year. When it comes to suicide prevention there is no single drug that is best for everyone but lithium has been shown to be the most consistently effective in mitigating suicide risk and suicidal ideation. Just as in mild to moderate depression some patients respond better to one than to the other. That said, lithium orotate, the natural form of lithium, most nontoxic and least expensive, (because it is non-patentable) should be the first lithium based choice for the bipolar afflicted. Lithium Orotate is more bioavailable than carbonate, citrate and just as effective at preventing mood swings associated with bipolar disorder. In fact, Depakote patients are 2.7 times as likely to commit suicide as those who take lithium "Psychiatry has never been able to say that what we do saves lives, which is the ultimate goal of medicine," said Dr. Frederick Goodwin of the George Washington University Medical Center, who led the study of more than 20,000 patients. "With lithium, now we can." The study, reported today in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. makes an argument that lithium should be reconsidered as the first-line treatment [for bipolar disorder], which is probably where it should have been all along added Dr. Norman Sussman, a psychopharmacologist at New York University who was not involved in the study. "If we can reduce the risk of suicide, that is a good argument for using the drug."

Bipolar disorder affects 1.3% to 1.5% of the population. It can—and often is—deadly. In fact, bipolar based suicide is 10 to 20 times more common than in the general population. One in five bipolar patients attempt suicide at some time in life. Lithium orotate is widely used in the treatment of bipolar depression. Lithium is a natural substance to the body and possesses a powerful leveling effect. Lithium orotate, the only natural form of lithium is the most bioavailable protocol for addressing bipolar disorder. Many other antidepressants, for reasons still not fully understood, exacerbate suicidal ideation. This is especially so for SSRI’s (Prozac, Paxil, Welbutrin) which often seem to potentiate suicidal ideation. Independent studies have demonstrated that lithium orotate is also supportive of impulsive and aggressive behavior.

Bipolar disorder, one of the least common but most severe forms of depression. It increases with age. Bipolar disorder often begins in childhood or adolescence and continues throughout life. The course of bipolar disorder is episodic but highly variable with potential for high levels of severity and recurrence intensity, disproportionately high depressive morbidity and substance abuse. Bipolar depression can be present during 20% to 30% of patients' time even during preventative treatment and is closely associated with disability and mortality. Bipolar disorder is high among risk-takers.

Treatment for bipolar disorder was revolutionized in the early1970s by the introduction of lithium carbonate for preventing recurrences of mania and bipolar depression. In fact, lithium remains the international standard of comparison for an increasing number of newer patented treatments including anticonvulsants and antipsychotics. Among patients with type 1 or 2 bipolar disorder, long-term lithium therapy can reduce mania by about 66%.

Suicide remains an extraordinarily high risk for the bipolar afflicted. The international average 0.017% per year with a mortality ratio of 22. By comparison, the average standardized mortality ratio for suicide is about 20 among persons with unipolar major depression and 8.4 for those with schizophrenia. Ssuicide attempts by patients with bipolar disorder have an increased lethal potential. Suicide attempts are 5 times the rates of completed suicides as opposed to the general population in which rates of suicide attempts 10 to 20 times the rates of completed suicides.

Long-term use of lithium orotate is the a viable treatment consistently associated lowered rates of suicide among the bipolar afflicted. In a recent mathematical analysis of 22 studies patients the risk of completed suicides lithium rendered patients nine times less chance of completing a suicide attempt than with long-term lithium treatment. Still, that figure is 10 times higher than the general population. A reduction in the risk of suicide is associated with lithium treatment.