The Lithium Handbook. STAHL's Handbooks

Introduction
1. The efficacy story
2. Renal handling of lithium
3. Clinical pharmacokinetics
4. Lithium initiation and monitoring
5. Management of routine lithium related adverse effects
6. Lithium toxicity
7. Special populations and circumstances
8. Lithium discontinuation
Index.

Worldwide efforts to promote greater lithium use for mood disorders have increased the need for evidence-based guidance addressing key questions related to initiation, monitoring and adverse effect management. This practical handbook provides clinicians with a detailed explanation of lithium's renal journey, how this informs our understanding of polyuria pathogenesis and how medications or hyponatremia can alter lithium clearance. Covering efficacy, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, discontinuation, and use in special patient groups including pregnant and breastfeeding women, older or younger patients, each section also provides a detailed background for its suggested logical approach to managing lithium's renal and other adverse effects. Using the latest data, the book outlines rationales for specific management decisions, and prioritizes options to provide clinical guidance on the best course of action. Colour-coded lists and tables, bulleted text, and diagrams illustrate important points throughout, helping to make information accessible and easy-to-digest. An essential resource for mental health professionals worldwide.

• Offers a reasoned approach to management of non-renal adverse effects, how to interpret and manage changes in TSH and serum calcium, and how to address patient complaints of cognitive dysfunction, polyuria, tremor and other common clinical situations
• Provides detailed coverage of previously overlooked topics such as lithium use during lactation or in patients with Brugada syndrome, and a discussion of the pathogenesis for adverse effects such as hyperparathyroidism, hypothyroidism and renal dysfunction
• Provides an up-to-date review of the latest data from 2020 onwards on the use of lithium during pregnancy and breastfeeding and in child/adolescent bipolar disorder, the rationale for management of lithium related nephrogenic diabetes insipidus with amiloride and acetazolamide, alongside guidance on the use of the 2021 revised CKD-EPI eGFR formula

Jonathan M. Meyer, University of California, San Diego
Jonathan M. Meyer is a Voluntary Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

Stephen M. Stahl, University of California, San Diego
Stephen M. Stahl is Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside, and Honorary Visiting Senior Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.