Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139:1162-1164
Copyright © 1982 by American Psychiatric Association
Lecithin in the treatment of mania: double-blind, placebo-controlled trials
BM Cohen, JF Lipinski and RI Altesman
The authors report double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of pure lecithin
in the treatment of mania. As in preliminary trials, lecithin appeared to
be nontoxic and effective. Improvement with lecithin was significantly
greater than improvement with placebo in five of the six patients studied.
The concurrent use of anticholinergic agents did not prevent the antimanic
effect of lecithin. The authors discuss the possible mechanism of action of
lecithin, including cholinergic and membrane-altering effects.
