John Frederick Joseph Cade AO was an Australian psychiatrist who in 1948 discovered the effects of lithium carbonate as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of bipolar disorder, then known as manic depression.
15 Facts About John Cade
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John Cade was born in Murtoa, in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia.
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When John Cade was a small boy, his father left for World War I and served in Gallipoli and France.
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John Cade was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, matriculating in 1928.
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John Cade then studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating at the age of 21 years with honours in all subjects.
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John Cade became a House Officer at St Vincent's Hospital and then Royal Children's Hospital before becoming severely ill with bilateral pneumococcal pneumonia.
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John Cade thought perhaps a toxin was affecting their brains and when it was eliminated through their urine, they lost their symptoms.
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John Cade found urea was the same in both ill and healthy people.
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John Cade found that in the guinea pigs injected with lithium carbonate solution, as a control solution, the guinea pigs were more restful.
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The calming effect was so robust that John Cade speculated that mania was caused by a deficiency in lithium.
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In 1952 John Cade was appointed Superintendent and Dean of the clinical school at Royal Park Hospital.
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John Cade served as the Superintendent at Royal Park until his retirement in 1977.
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In 1976, John Cade was one of the first to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
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Dr John Cade remained humble about his chance discovery, describing himself as merely a gold prospector who happened to find a nugget.
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John Cade died of oesophageal cancer at Fitzroy on 16 November 1980, and is buried at Yan Yean Cemetery in Whittlesea.