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Lithium In Water "Curbs Suicide"

Posted by Soulskill on from the correlation-is-reeeally-chill-man dept.

SpuriousLogic writes "Drinking water which contains lithium may reduce the risk of suicide, a Japanese study suggests. Researchers compared levels of lithium in drinking water to suicide rates in the prefecture of Oita, which has a population of more than one million. The suicide rate was significantly lower in those areas with the highest levels of lithium, they wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry. And I was only worried about fluoridation affecting my precious bodily fluids before ..."

5 of 458 comments (clear)

  1. Anyone ever read that Stephen King story? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Where they spike the water to cure aggression in people? It doesn't end well.

  2. Lithium is used to fight bipolar disorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It is not widely promoted since it can't be patented. This is not a conspiracy theory (even if it sounds like this), see it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_pharmacology

    1. Re: Lithium is used to fight bipolar disorder by Tiro · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The problem is, lithium is highly toxic only very slightly above the theraputic threshold, making it extremely dangerous.

      If this study shows effects from the amount of Li occuring in drinking water, then perhaps pharmacologists should reevaluate what the theraputic threshold is?

  3. Re:Anyone else massively creeped out by this? by timeOday · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't think anyone's saying anything about scientists PUTTING lithium into the water. They went around and measured levels of lithium already in the water and found that the areas with higher levels had less suicides.

    I suppose all water has some level of lithium. Maybe people evolved for lithium-rich water (compared to the worldwide average today) and millions of people worldwide are actually suffering from lithium deficiency. Heck, it even kills some of them.

  4. Re:Not surprising by Z00L00K · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And maybe the real problem is that the body needs a certain amount of lithium to be stable, but some people need it more than other due to genetic predisposition.

    And if we get it through water or through food is a different issue. One contributing fact can also be that we use pure sodium chloride in our cooking instead of a mix of salts where lithium and potassium also are present.

    But it's probably best to avoid chewing on those LiIon batteries. But eating vegetables seems to be a good idea.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.