Re: Lithium displacing Sodium

 "This is why lithium is used to treat bipolar since it is more reactive than sodium that is responsible for the disorder"

Can you elaborate? I come from a family of "bipolars" as well as other mental health diagnoses. I always thought if I got too much sodium, I could ideally counteract it with the right amount of potassium. Are folks in my family eating too much sodium, are they eating the wrong kinds of sodium, are they relatively dehydrated, are they absorbing too much sodium, or a combination of these?

I have not seen anything on the exact mechanism, just that there is a sodium shift in the brain neurons.  The lithium, and potassium, are both more reactive than the sodium and therefore will displace the sodium.  But it is more dangerous to try to do this with potassium since too much potassium can cause arrhythmias or stop the heart.  And some people may not excrete potassium properly if they have certain metabolic disorders or are on potassium sparing diuretics.  So they use lithium.  They figure killing the liver is better than stopping the heart.

I understand about the higher elements displacing the lower ones, after reading parts of _The Fluoride Deception_ and _The Devil's Poison_ and the extreme reactivity of fluoride.

Would all this info be in Michael Murray's books? Thanks.

I checked his book The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine and he does not mention the cause of bipolar, just recommendations for treatment.