A 61-year-old with bipolar disorder and cognitive impairment:
Dementia or polypharmacy?

1) CHOOSE ONE. A 67-year-old woman with bipolar disorder is seen for complaints of poor concentration, racing thoughts, irritability, and sleep disturbance. She has been taking lithium carbonate 600 mg twice daily, and a recent serum lithium level was 0.2 mmol/L. The most likely cause of her current symptoms is:

  1. Alzheimer disease
  2. Lithium toxicity
  3. The bipolar disorder itself
  4. An acute stroke