[Lithium in the treatment of chronic alcoholic patients with brain damage--a controlled study]

The efficacy of lithium aspartate in reducing alcohol consumption was examined in a double-blind, placebo controlled cross-over study. Subjects were male alcohol-dependent in-patients with organic brain disorder of moderate or severe degree. Starting with 22 men who fulfilled our selection criteria, only 8 finished the seven months trial (one month base-line, three months placebo, three months lithium). Measures of treatment response were the number of drinking episodes and the severity of intoxication on each episode (both registered by the nursing staff). Both measures showed no evidence of different responses to lithium and placebo treatment.