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Adding Lithium to water supplies will reduce suicide rates...

  • 25-05-2011 6:15pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 25,042 ✭✭✭✭


    Over the last number of years, there has been an ongoing debate about whether or not Lithium should be added to public water supplies. It has apparently being shown to reduce the incidence of suicide amongst populations. It's the main constituent of many Mood Stabilising Drugs.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8025454.stm
    http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/05/15/lithium-water-suicide.html
    http://www.imt.ie/opinion/guests/2009/05/lithium-for-water-supply.html


    I know there's already a lot of conspiracy crap surrounding water fluoridation, and this thread is not about any of that. It's simply about whether or not it's a good idea to tackle a problem faced by a minority of people, by effectively targeting the entire populace.. I see it as a step in the wrong direction personally, and as a bit of a cop-out. I don't really care how effective it is at reducing suicide rates.. if people want to take supplements then allow them to do it of their own accord.. that's my view.

    So, do you think it's a good idea to add stuff like this to the entire public water supply?

    Medicating water supplies? 224 votes

    I'm in favor of it
    0%
    I'm against it
    10%
    KilOitSeachmallConor108m83moceri[Deleted User]Head_HunterW.Shakes-BeeryulonifryupjennytightlipsweldoninhioMcChubbinRichard teasagat2deepsouthtallaDaniel SJul3shogflemXplor.er 24 votes
    I don't know/care
    89%
    D-GenerateDocSte.phenOur man in HavanaRedshiftZabomahaidJohnK[Deleted User]celjbeansShinyhumanjiCanis Lupus[Deleted User]RichieCDonkeyStyle \o/CJhaugheyJupiterKidWibbs 200 votes


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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,391 ✭✭✭✭mikom


    If I was to live for a few years in the USA with a Lithium laced water supply and I moved back to Lithium free and drizzly Ireland, would I top myself within a week?



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,525 ✭✭✭DanGerMus


    I don't know.... but i do care. :confused:


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    Sounds like a lot of Pharmaceutical Industry spin IMO


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,198 ✭✭✭strokemyclover


    I don't know/care
    Lithium doesn't mix well with the mind control drugs they're already putting in there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Over the last number of years, there has been an ongoing debate about whether or not Lithium should be added to public water supplies. It has apparently being shown to reduce the incidence of suicide amongst populations. It's the main constituent of many Mood Stabilising Drugs.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8025454.stm
    http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/05/15/lithium-water-suicide.html
    http://www.imt.ie/opinion/guests/2009/05/lithium-for-water-supply.html


    I know there's already a lot of conspiracy crap surrounding water fluoridation, and this thread is not about any of that. It's simply about whether or not it's a good idea to tackle a problem faced by a minority of people, by effectively targeting the entire populace.. I see it as a step in the wrong direction personally, and as a bit of a cop-out. I don't really care how effective it is at reducing suicide rates.. if people want to take supplements then allow them to do it of their own accord.. that's my view.

    So, do you think it's a good idea to add stuff like this to the entire public water supply?

    Adding pure lithium to water will probaly cause a energetic chemical reaction!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 25,243 ✭✭✭✭Jesus Wept


    Rather than spiking everyones water supplies with mood altering drugs, mental health should be given the proper consideration and treatment that is so incredibly lacking, and in an open, accepting and modern forward thinking non-skeptical manner.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,086 ✭✭✭Nijmegen


    I don't know/care
    Lithium has a whole rake of side effects. I'm aware in our water it'd be low concentration, but the dose would be over a long period of time.

    A friend of mine had to be put on it. Sucked all of his energy. Sure he doesn't go nuts once a year when he's on it, but his quality of life the rest of the year is destroyed.

    Also, people who come off lithium tend to get whatever they had with a vengeance, and quite a few of them commit suicide.

    What if they give us lithium, I take it from a child into adulthood and move abroad, only to discover that without it I'm unstable and take my own life?

    Anyway, on a general point of order I don't believe the government should ever mass drug the population in a manner such as this.


  • Registered Users Posts: 26,283 ✭✭✭✭Eric Cartman


    I don't know/care
    yeah , maybee they just shouldnt add anything to our water , that would be nice


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 837 ✭✭✭whiteonion


    I don't know/care
    Yay more forced medication.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,919 ✭✭✭✭orourkeda


    Great. Lets all much ourselves some lithium


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,964 ✭✭✭Sitec


    I drink Coke.


  • Registered Users Posts: 315 ✭✭Full.Duck


    Eh no thanks, id rather not have drugs in my water! Flouride is bad enough.

    Unless weed happens to flow out of the taps then im all up for it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭Adamantium


    or they could simply give us normal H20 and not bother adding more things which I DIDN'T ASK FOR.(including flouride)


  • Registered Users Posts: 133 ✭✭psycjay


    I don't know/care
    The research is based on correlations. Just because areas with more lithium in the water coincide with less suicides tells us nothing about the why there are less suicides. Perhaps, for instance, there is different amounts of lithium in urban vs rural environments. Perhaps the increased stress associated with urban life is the cause of suicides and not the mineral content of water?

    As mentioned, the doses used to treat mental disorders such as bi-polar disorder are much higher. There is a massive logical leap that a tiny amount in drinking water will have any effect on mood. Plus the altered state of mind, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, are hardly worth the risk.

    Also, those articles are from 2 years ago. Has there been anything about this recently?


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Sodium valproate is the drug of choice in treating mood disorders as far as I know. Lithium isnt used as much.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,334 ✭✭✭RichieC


    I don't know/care
    jesus fking christ.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,948 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    Adding pure lithium to water will probaly cause a energetic chemical reaction!
    You couldn't take lithium metal as a medication, either: imagine what it would do to your stomach? It would be a lithium compound, such as lithium citrate or carbonate.

    I would be very concerned about this for another reason: how do you control the dosage? You can't just throw the stuff down people's throats and expect it to just have the desired effects. Not that that wasn't tried: did you know that 7-Up lemonade contained added lithium citrate as a "tonic", from its introduction in 1929 till 1950? :eek:

    From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

    — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



  • Registered Users Posts: 4 dirtysteve


    I don't know/care
    If it helps further my plans, so be it.

    End Communication.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16,391 ✭✭✭✭mikom


    dirtysteve wrote: »
    If it helps further my plans, so be it.

    End Communication.

    You gonna take a bath in it?


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,090 ✭✭✭jill_valentine


    It's an interesting philosophical question. But I'd say no, for two reasons.

    First of all, I had a bit of a Nine Inch Nails phase and made myself a bit sick of them, so I don't want to give Trent Reznor this old chestnut to bang on about again.

    Second, I used to work in a chemist, and it was very apparent who was on lithium and who wasn't. While I don't have a problem with it's careful application in very particular circumstances, and obviously, those folks would be on fairly high dosages, this kind of blanket use would incur the risk of all kinds of cons for people who didn't need it in the first place. The wider ethical problems of introducing lithium into a whole population, when there's an awful lot of unknowns about how and why it's effective among individuals, would be huge. It would also be impossible to track or regulate any individual's intake, and the human brain is a pretty mysterious and carefully balanced bit of kit at the best of times.

    That's before you get into the issue of slippery slopey government mind control questions. The Irish government hasn't exactly got a stellar record when it comes to far less important matters than these, so I'd rather not trust them with anything like this. The quality of the tap water in my area varies from week to week sometimes. Over the summer, for instance, it tends to smell remarkably like chlorine - so as you can imagine, I wouldn't have great faith in the same people to regulate my lithium intake.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,848 ✭✭✭bleg


    yeah , maybee they just shouldnt add anything to our water , that would be nice

    Ya leave it full of bacteria and coliforms please.


  • Registered Users Posts: 25,042 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    I don't know/care
    bleg wrote: »
    Ya leave it full of bacteria and coliforms please.

    I was waiting for someone to throw up that gem =p

    Also, dihydrogen monoxide is bad, and bla bla bla. The question is about adding medications to water supplies.. not ensuring that the water is safe to drink in the first place.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,331 ✭✭✭Guill


    I don't know/care
    How about some prevention rather than a cure.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,751 ✭✭✭Saila


    psycjay wrote: »
    The research is based on correlations. Just because areas with more lithium in the water coincide with less suicides tells us nothing about the why there are less suicides.

    ...........Lisa I want to buy your rock *opens wallet*


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,116 ✭✭✭starviewadams


    I don't know/care
    It'll probably kill me if they added it to our water,I'm already on Lithium!

    Therapeutic level of Lithium is close to toxic levels and I have to have blood tests every now and then to check them,so it wouldn't be as simple as dumping Lithium in our water and everybody becomes happy!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,334 ✭✭✭RichieC


    I don't know/care
    The wider ethical problems of introducing lithium into a whole population, when there's an awful lot of unknowns about how and why it's effective among individuals.

    from what I'm reading it's pretty much a mystery how it works..


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,848 ✭✭✭bleg


    I was waiting for someone to throw up that gem =p

    Also, dihydrogen monoxide is bad, and bla bla bla. The question is about adding medications to water supplies.. not ensuring that the water is safe to drink in the first place.

    Well it involves putting in a non toxic amount of chlorine in order to prevent disease. At this time putting lithium in water does not make sense as there isn't evidence.


  • Registered Users Posts: 133 ✭✭psycjay


    I don't know/care
    I think you should have isolated "don't know" from "don't care" in the pole, because I'd be interested to see how many people didn't care about what is put into their water supply!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 924 ✭✭✭Elliemental


    I don't know/care
    Lithium is far too potent a drug to go adding to the water supply. I knew someone who took it, and spent the whole time throwing up. Perhaps a bit of Prozac, instead? Rather than the subtle as a claw hammer Lithium, a nice little pick-me-up :)


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,185 ✭✭✭Rubik.


    I don't know/care
    "Lithium can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert."

    The effects this could have on an entire population doesn't bear thinking about.

    Other side effects go from mild hand tremor; mild thirst; temporary, mild nausea and general discomfort at the beginning of treatment to in extreme cases - severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); blurred vision; confusion; diarrhea; drowsiness; excessive weight gain; fainting; giddiness; inability to control the bladder or bowels; increased thirst; increased or decreased urination; involuntary twitching or muscle movements; loss of consciousness; loss of coordination; muscle weakness; persistent headache; persistent or severe nausea; ringing in the ears; seizures; slow or irregular heartbeat; slurred speech; swelling of the ankles or wrists; unsteadiness; vision changes; vomiting.

    Someone who is bi-polar can choose whether they think the benefits of taking lithium outweights the resulting side effects, to remove that choice from the entire population would be unthinkable.


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