Like, the very same? Does it at least goes through different processings? How the fuck can a metal be a medicine?
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It’s… Complicated. What defines when an atom is Lithium? It depends on the number of protons in the nucleus. If the number of electrons change, it is still Lithium, but it is a different ion. If the number of neutrons changes, it is still Lithium, but a different isotope. If the number of protons changes, it is no longer Lithium. All 3 changes can and do change the various properties and interactions of the element. Besides that, metallic Lithium is highly reactive and unstable in nature. It is much much much more likely to be found in a compound, bound to other elements. The other elements as well as the actual, physical structure of the compound can also have drastic changes on the way it interacts with other compounds, especially in living organisms where enzymes and proteins are heavily dependent on fitting together like puzzle pieces.
So short answer, the lithium in medicines with Lithium in them have 3 protons. The lithium in batteries have 3 protons. They are both Lithium.
Long answer, Lithium oxide has about as much in common with Lithium carbonate as Water has with rust. The reason a metal can be part of a medicine is because the average person’s definition of a metal is vastly different from chemistry. A chemist would say that a metal is an atom which readily makes cations. That just means they like to lose electrons to get a positive charge. Sodium is a metal, it likes to lose electrons. We commonly see the result when the sodium atom gives its electron to a chlorine atom. The result is table salt.
Unbound, deionized sodium metal is so reactive it will explode if it touches water. Unbound, deionized chlorine is insanely toxic and can turn the liquid in your lungs to acid. But put them together and table salt is vitally important for life as we know it. Lithium, being in the same column as sodium on the periodic table, also likes to lose electrons to get a positive charge, also is highly reactive, and is a metal. However, once you react it with other molecules, the properties may vastly change.
Calcium is also a metal. It’s only one column to the right of sodium and lithium. It will also react readily just by dropping it in water, though it won’t explode immediately like the other two. But when someone tells you to drink milk to get your calcium, you don’t ask how a metal can be good for your health. Look at a bottle of Powerade and you will see ion-4 which is their slogan for the 4 different metals they use in their drink, and under that will list sodium, magnesium, potassium, and calcium
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