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(CNN Spanish) --
After the electrical reform was rejected in the Mexican Congress, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent a reform initiative to the Mining Law, whose central issue is lithium;
an important mineral for the manufacture of electrical batteries, which is also key to the treatment of some mental disorders.
The reform to the Mining Law received the approval of 298 deputies and is now awaiting the approval of the Chamber of Senators.
The ABC of AMLO's electricity reform: what happened, what he proposed and how the process was before his rejection
During the ordinary session of the Chamber of Senators on April 19, Guanajuato senator Martha Lucía Mícher Camarena said that the first time she heard about lithium was "approximately 30 years ago" when a mother "began to have a terrible depression " for a supposed "low production of lithium".
But what role does lithium play in health and why is it a topic of conversation in Mexico?
lithium and health
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Lithium is a natural alkali metal that is present in the body in trace amounts and is used to treat certain psychiatric disorders.
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Lithium is approved for the treatment of bipolar disorder in its manic phase, some psychoses and patients who constantly have suicide attempts and who cannot stabilize their mood. What lithium has is a mood-stabilizing effect," he said. Dr. Alejandra Solís Flores, a specialist in Psychiatry with a high specialty in Sleep Disorders, told CNN.
"It's not that it's a lithium deficiency. That is, no patient has lithium deficiency and is therefore depressed. No, that's false. Our body doesn't actually produce lithium. It's one of the myths," he added.
According to the UK National Health Service (NHS), lithium is a type of medicine known as a mood stabilizer that is used to treat conditions such as:
Mania
hypomania
Regular bouts of depression (when other medications haven't worked)
It can also be given to reduce aggressive or self-destructive behavior, according to the NHS.
Solis Flores indicated that once lithium treatment is started in a patient, it is necessary to carry out a careful study of the patient's previous health.
This includes blood tests, a thyroid profile, and a kidney profile.
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We start the treatment and for us to follow up and see that the levels or the treatment are adequate.
And now yes, the patient is already being asked for lithium levels," Solis Flores said.
The consumption of lithium should be recommended by a health specialist, who should ask the patient to periodically provide a blood sample to ensure the consumption of an adequate level of medication, as well as to evaluate side effects, such as changes in counts. of blood cells or kidney function.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) says that the most important thing for people about using lithium for bipolar treatment is that it is a long-term treatment.
"Don't stop taking lithium, even when you feel better... Skipping doses of lithium may increase the risk of relapse of mood symptoms," NAMI says.
"For lithium to work properly, it must be taken every day as directed by your health care provider," she adds.
Lithium for medicinal use can be given as tablets, capsules, and extended-release (long-acting) tablets, or as a liquid solution for oral administration.
How is lithium obtained?
It is estimated that the Uyuni salt flat contains 10,000 million tons of salt and 100 million tons of lithium, which makes it one of the world's largest reserves of this mineral.
(Photo credit should read MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Armando Ernesto Alatorre Campos, president of the College of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (CIMMGM), explained to CNN that with the reduction in the use of internal fuel engines, there is an expectation of growth in lithium batteries used by electric cars.
"Today there is a small imbalance between supply and demand in the world and that has caused very high prices in recent months," said Alatorre Campos.
However, as the market adjusts, the price of lithium is expected to decline.
Regarding the production of lithium, the president of the CIMMGM indicated that 90% of its production worldwide comes from four countries: Australia, which produces almost 50% of the lithium, followed by Chile, China and Argentina.
"Lithium has the particularity that we can find it in more than one geological presence," explained Alatorre Campos.
For example, Australians extract it from a type of rock called pegmatite that requires traditional mining and then chemical treatment.
For their part, Chile and Argentina extract lithium from brine.
Lithium extraction in Mexico
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Unlike other countries, Mexico has lithium in clays or lithium in sediments, but at the moment, Alatorre Campos told CNN, "there is no functional commercial exploitation in the world on an industrial scale."
"Currently, in reality, we only have one known deposit, dimensioned, that could eventually go into production," explained Alatorre Campos.
However, the director of the CIMMGM said that it will be necessary to carry out a series of works, exploration and research that require between 5 to 10 years, as well as investments of hundreds of millions of dollars to locate a second deposit.
On the other hand, the Association of Metallurgical Mining Engineers and Geologists of Mexico, AC, indicated in a document that the types of lithium deposits in clay "can be very large, but to extract lithium it is necessary to calcine the clays to make it soluble. lithium and other elements in water, which implies a high cost".