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Biomedical subjects

M G Baudhuin

Publications and source records attributed to M G Baudhuin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

The meaning of serum lithium levels in maintenance therapy of mood disorders: a review of the literature.

Since Cade first described the role of lithium in the treatment of manic-depressive patients 40 years ago, there has not been consistent agreement on the relationship between the serum level of lithium during maintenance therapy and clinical outcome. This is a comprehensive review of literature reporting on lithium dose-response relationships, with particular emphasis on a consideration of serum levels of lithium. Efficacy studies are systematically discussed as are those that consider the relationship between serum level and adverse effects. Even after 40 years of lithium use, the relationship between serum levels of lithium during maintenance therapy and clinical outcome, including the development of side effects, remains obscure.

Bipolar Disorder

Lithium Information Center. One model of a computer-based psychiatric information service.

The Lithium Information Center has been functioning as a specialized psychiatric information service for nearly ten years. Over the years, the center has disseminated information about the medical uses of lithium to psychiatrists and other physicians, to patients, to the family and friends of patients, and to a host of other individuals and organizations including pharmacists, lawyers, nurses, social workers, mental health centers, clinics, and support groups. To encourage the development of similar psychiatric information services, we outline the center's methods of acquiring, organizing, and disseminating lithium information.

Computers

Lithium Information Center: The Lithium Library revisited.

The Lithium Information Center's experience over the past 7 years is discussed. The center is a computer-based reference service which specializes in dissemination of information about the medical uses of lithium. At the heart of the center is the Lithium Library, a bibliographic retrieval system containing references to the lithium literature. More than 5,000 requests for literature searches and patient information have been answered by Lithium Library staff members since 1977. The center has recently expanded its services, creating the Lithium Index and Lithium Consultation, computerized programs that provide immediate answers to specific questions about lithium. The center's services are directed to patient care, lithium research, and medical and patient education. Because of topical specialization and use of computers, the Lithium Information Center has been able to provide more immediate, comprehensive, relevant, integrated, and up-to-date information than other bibliographic services.

Drug Information Services

The Lithium Information Center: an efficient information service.

The Lithium Information Center is described as a response to the accelerated growth of information regarding a specific health care topic. The authors describe the body of literature that is managed by the Lithium Information Center, discuss how that information is stored and retrieved, indicate the advantages of this kind of information management compared to other health care information services, and note extraordinary peripheral ways in which the Center contributes to the continued growth of useful information about lithium and its therapeutic uses. It is concluded that the Center might be used as a model for others who wish to manage literature of content areas in which interest is increasing rapidly.

Drug Information Services

The Lithium Index: an innovative approach to consultation by computer.

The Lithium Index, a computer consultation program, was developed at the Lithium Information Center to quickly provide up-to-date information about lithium and its side effects. Information is contained in brief summaries that are compiled from the literature, organized by clinical topic, and written and retrieved by means of an interactive computer program. Computer-stored texts are easily updated to incorporate new information. The authors present an example that deals with the use of lithium during pregnancy, the most frequently requested topic.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced