Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T14:02:46.786Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thyrotoxicosis and Lithium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Rachel Rosser
Rachel Rosser*
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, London, S.E.5
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Two cases are presented in which treatment with lithium was complicated by thyrotoxicosis. The underlying physiological mechanisms are discussed.

Lithium suppresses thyroid function, so the early stages of thyrotoxicosis may be clinically undetectable. The symptoms and signs of thyrotoxicosis may be confused with the side effects of lithium, and if lithium is withdrawn severe rebound thyrotoxicity may occur. Furthermore, some of the side effects of lithium may be aggravated by thyrotoxicity.

These cases provide further evidence of the importance of routine screening of thyroid function before starting treatment with lithium.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 128 , Issue 1 , January 1976 , pp. 61 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berens, S. C., Bernstein, R. S., Robbins, J. & Wolff, J. (1970) Antithyroid effects of lithium. J. clin. Invest., 49, 1357–67.Google Scholar
Carpelan, H. (1957) Mental disorders in thyroidectamized patients: a psychosomatic study of 53 cases. Acta psych, neurol. Scand., 32, Suppl. 116.Google Scholar
Colburn, R. W., Goodwin, F. K., Bunney, W. E. & Davis, J. M. (1967) Effect of lithium on the uptake of noradrenalin by synaptosomes. Nature (Lond.), 215, 1395.Google Scholar
Cooper, T. B. & Simpson, G. M. (1969) Preliminary report of a longitudinal study on the effects of lithium on iodine metabolism. Current Therapeutic Research, 11, 603–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Crammer, J. L., Rosser, R. M. & Crane, G. (1974) Bloods levels and management of lithium treatment. Brit. med. J., ii, 650–4.Google Scholar
Crowe, M. J., Lloyd, G. G., Bloch, S. & Rosser, R. M. (1973) Hypothyroidism in patients treated with lithium: a review and two case reports. Psychol. Med., 3, 337–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fieve, R. R. & Platman, S. R. (1968) Follow-up studies of lithium and thyroid function in manic-depressive illness. Amer. J. Psychiat., 125, 1443–5.Google Scholar
Granville-Grossman, K. (1971) Recent Advances in Clinical Psychiatry, p. 213. London: Churchill.Google Scholar
Hadden, D. R. & McDevitt, D. G. (1974) Environmental stress and thyrotoxicosis. Lancet, ii, 577.Google Scholar
Hall, R. & Evered, D. C. (1974) Lithium in thyrotoxicosis. Lancet, ii, 1521.Google Scholar
Hullin, R. P., McDonald, R., & Allsopp, M. (1972) Prophylactic lithium in recurrent affective disorders. Lancet, i, 1044–6.Google Scholar
Lazarus, J. H. & Bennie, E. H. (1972) Effect of lithium on thyroid function in man. Acta Endocrinologica (Copenhagen), 70, 226–72.Google ScholarPubMed
Rogers, M. P. & Whybrow, P. C. (1971) Clinical hypothyroidism occurring during lithium treatment. Amer. J. Psychiat., 128, 158–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schou, M., Amidsen, A., Jensen, S. E. & Olsen, T. (1968) Occurrence of goitre during lithium treatment. Brit. med. J., iii, 710–13.Google Scholar
Sedvall, G., Jonsson, B., Petterson, V. & Levin, K. (1968) Effect of lithium salts on plasma protein bound iodine and uptake of I131 in thyroid gland of man and rat. Life Sciences, Part I, 7, 1257–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spaulding, S. W., Burrow, G. N., Bermudez, F. & Himmelhoch, J. M. (1972) The inhibitory effect of lithium on thyroid hormone release in both euthyroid and thyrotoxic patients. J. clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 35, 905–11.Google Scholar
Temple, R., Berman, H., Robbins, J. & Wolff, J. (1972) The use of lithium in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis. J. clin. Invest., 51, 2746.Google Scholar
Villeneuve, A., Gautier, J., Jus, A. & Perron, D. (1973) Effect of lithium on thyroid in man. Lancet, ii, 502.Google Scholar
Whybrow, P. C., Coppen, A., Prange, A. J., Noguera, R. & Bailey, J. E. (1972) Thyroid function and the response to liothyronine in depression. Arch. gen. Psychiat., 26, 242–5.Google Scholar
Williams, J. A., Berens, S. C. & Wolff, J. (1971) Thyroid secretion in vitro: inhibition of TSH and dibutyryl cyclic AMP—stimulated I131 release by Li+. Endocrinology 88, 1385–8.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.