ABSTRACT
Lithium entered into significant therapeutic usage in the USA in the late 1940s. Lithium chloride became a popular salt substitute for patients on sodium-free diets. It was being taken by patients with heart and kidney disease, and some fatalities and serious poisonings resulted1. These events and the history of lithium in ‘therapeutic’ spa waters for the treatment of a multitude of disorders would not appear to be auspicious for its re-entry into modern therapeutics.
