John Cade and lithium — MRCPsych Paper A MCQ

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ModerateHistory and classificationJohn Cade and lithiumMRCPsych Paper A

In 1949, an Australian psychiatrist published a seminal report on the treatment of manic excitement with lithium salts, following experiments in which lithium produced marked inactivity in guinea pigs. Which psychiatrist was responsible for this work?

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Correct answer: B — John Cade

John Cade is correct. The Australian psychiatrist reported lithium's antimanic effects in 1949 after animal experiments led him to administer lithium salts to patients with manic excitement. This work initiated lithium's modern psychiatric use. Mogens Schou is the strongest distractor: he subsequently conducted controlled clinical research that helped confirm lithium's antimanic efficacy and establish its prophylactic role, but he did not author the seminal 1949 report. Jean Delay was associated with the early psychiatric use of chlorpromazine, Roland Kuhn with the discovery of imipramine's antidepressant effects, and Henri Laborit with observations that contributed to chlorpromazine's development.

Reference: Royal College of Psychiatrists, “Lithium for bipolar disorder: the John Cade story,” July 2019. https://elearninghub.rcpsych.ac.uk/products/lithium_for_bipolar_disorder