Lithium was once just a remedy for gout and bladder stones—until a psychiatrist’s bizarre experiment changed everything. After World War II, John Cade injected urine from mentally ill patients into guinea pigs, hoping to uncover the biological roots of mental illness...

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References:

1. Cade J. F. (1999). John Frederick Joseph Cade: family memories on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his discovery of the use of lithium in mania. 1949. The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 33(5), . https://doi.org/10.1080/j.1440-1614.1999.00624.x
2. Shorter E. (2009). The history of lithium therapy. Bipolar disorders, 11 Suppl 2(Suppl 2), 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-5618.2009.00706.x
3. Chiu, E., & Hegarty, R. M. (1999). John Cade: the man. The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 33 Suppl, S24–S26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1614.1999.00664.x
4. Draaisma, D. (2019). The serendipitous story of lithium. Nature, 572(7771), 584-585. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02480-0
5. Drugs.com - Lithium Patient Tips

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Music: Sourced from Pixabay and Musopen

Produced by: Radin Alikhani

Instagram: @rxchronicles_

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Special thanks to the University of Michigan's Shapiro Library for providing the recording space for this episode.