Lithium: A Doctor, A Drug, And A Breakthrough

Dr. Walter Brown, a professor at Brown University, joins Cool Science Radio. Brown explored the story of what he calls the “wildly unsung” 1949 discovery of lithium as a cure for bipolar disorder. He calls it one of the most important breakthroughs of the modern era and answers the questions surrounding why, discovered in 1949, lithium would not be available to patients until 1970— meanwhile those patients underwent horrifying treatments to cure bipolar disorder. Brown tells the story in his new book, Lithium: A Doctor, A Drug, And A Breakthrough.