Homework for SMTM-6941: Lithium Problem Sets

Reference Reading A Chemical Hunger, Part VII and Interludes C, G, and H U.S. Geological Survey, Public Water Supplies of the 100 Largest Cities in the United States, 1962 U.S. Geological Survey, Lithium in U.S. Groundwater, 2021 Ferensztajn-Rochowiak, E., & Rybakowski, J. K. (2023). Long-term lithium therapy: side effects and interactions. Pharmaceuticals, 16(1), 74. Background Information In clinical settings, lithium is usually prescribed as lithium carbonate, and doses are given in milligrams (mg) of the compound. But lithium carbonate is only 18.8% elemental lithium (the rest is carbonate), so the dose of elemental lithium is much lower than the face amount. For example, if you are prescribed “600 mg 2 times a day”, that’s 1200 mg of lithium carbonate, which works out to about 225 mg of elemental lithium. Remember that most numbers in this problem set are expressed as elemental lithium. Be careful to distinguish between elemental lithium and lithium carbonate when interpreting…