Posted by SLS on June 15, 2000, at 15:03:41
In reply to Re: Another oppinion, posted by Oddzilla on June 15, 2000, at 9:56:03
Dear Odzilla,
I apologize for my use of imprecise phraseology. The term "flawed outcome" is an example of my flawed semantics. I guess we all make mistakes. :-) Good point.
What may be flawed is the possible conclusion that "lithium is never better than placebo" based upon the first post along this thread, which, by the way, was a perfectly objective submission regarding the existence of a published article. It was my concern that this is how the post would be interpreted.
What do you think of lithium? Did it not work for you?
Did you read the article? What did you think?
Like I said, I am neither objective nor qualified. I just happen to think that lithium is more effective than sugar, even for prophylaxis. My belief reflects the overwhelming majority of studies appearing in peer-reviewed medical journals that demonstrate this as their outcome. Check it out.
Lithium works best for pure bipolar I without mixed states in people who have had few previous occurrences of affective episodes. It can work quite well for these presentations. However, this is not what the study was designed to test. Patients who suffered from mixed states were included, and there was no limit to the number of previous episodes experienced.
The goal (I should hope) is to try to successfully treat people while they are still young and have not suffered many episodes. I was hoping the initial post "lithium vs placebo" wouldn't persuade anyone to avoid lithium altogether.
I guess my study failed. I didn't get the results I was hoping for. Perhaps I should design a new one. :-)
It is unfortunate that lithium does not work as well as we would like it to. It does work, though - at least according to scientists, doctors, and many people who continue to take it.
It is no secret that lithium is not the miracle drug that Ronald Fieve hoped it would be. We may just need to be more precise in selecting the patients most likely to respond to it.
I wish I would respond to a placebo. I guess I just need to believe. Believing in the real drugs hasn't worked.
Thanks, Oddzilla.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:36179
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37428.html