Lithium: a therapeutic magic wand.

The premodern and modern history of lithium in medicine spans 130 years. While today the drug has a firmly established role in psychiatry, many issues have yet to be fully resolved. Discussed within (but still not fully resolved) are the effectiveness of lithium in treatment-resistant depression, whether a rebound relapse occurs following abrupt discontinuation, which serum levels are most desirable for acute and maintenance therapy, whether a certain dosage schedule is kinder to the kidney, the relationship of dosage schedule to 12-hour serum level, how to best monitor thyroid function, whether lithium causes kidney rot, and whether lithium and neuroleptics make a uniquely neurotoxic combination.