Hostname: page-component-6898cfcb55-cbk24 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-11T09:04:09.132Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lithium and the thyroid

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Carol Paton and
Dominic Beer
Dominic Beer
Affiliation:
Bexley Hospital, Old Bexley Lane, Bexley, Kent DA5 2BW
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

The common thyroid disorders are all autoimmune in origin, with the lifetime risk of thyroid disease being 1–2%. Thyroid autoantibodies are present in 9% of the adult population and 12.7% of women, with the frequency rising steeply in women over 45 years of age (Myers & West, 1987). In addition, 20% of the over 60–year-olds have an abnormal (raised) thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). The presence of both raised TSH and thyroid autoantibodies is associated with the development of clinical hypothyroidism at the rate of 5% per year (Myers & West, 1987).

Information

Type
Drug Information Quarterly
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 20 , Issue 6 , June 1996, pp. 354 - 355
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1996

References

Bauer, M. S. & Whybrow, P. C. (1990) Rapid cycling bipolar affective disorder. 11. Treatment of refractory rapid cycling with high-dose levothyroxine: a preliminary study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 435–40.Google Scholar
Coppen, A., Abu Saleh, M. T., Milln, P., et al (1983) Reducing lithium dose reduces morbidity and side-effects in affective disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 6, 53–66.Google Scholar
Custro, N., Scafidi, V., Lo Baido, R., et al (1994) Subclinical hypothyroidism resulting from autoimmune thyroiditis in female patients with endogenous depression. Journal of Endocrinology Investigations, 17, 641–646.Google Scholar
Drury, P. L. (1990) Endocrinology. In Clinical Medicine (eds Kumar, P. & Clark, M.), pp. 764–831. Baillière Tindall.Google Scholar
Hoffman, F. A. & Pizzo, P. A. (1987) The immune system. In Modern Lithium Therapy (ed. Johnson, F. N.), pp. 226–232. Oxford: IRL Press.Google Scholar
Katona, C. L. E. (1991) Refractory depression. In The Uses of Fluoxetine in Clinical Practice. International Congress and Symposium Series No 183. London: Royal Society of Medicine Services.Google Scholar
Jefferson, J. W. (1990) Lithium: the present and the future. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 51(Suppl. 8). 4–8.Google Scholar
Myers, D. H. & West, T. E. T. (1987) Hormone systems. In Modem Lithium Therapy (ed. Johnson, F. N.), pp. 220–226. Oxford: IRL Press.Google Scholar
Schou, M. (1989) Lithium prophylaxis: myths and realities. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 573–576.Google Scholar
Smigan, L., Wahlin, A., Jacobsson, L., et al (1984) Lithium therapy and thyroid function tests: a prospective study. Neuropsychobiology, 11, 39–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szabadi, S. (1991) Thyroid dysfunction and affective illness. British Medical Journal 302, 923–924.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.