• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2020

Background: The number of patients with dementia continues to increase as the age of aging continues to grow. Psychiatric symptoms caused by senile dementia are controlled using antipsychotics. However, these antipsychotics can lead to Parkinson's disease, and abuse of dopamine derivatives such as levodopa among Parkinsonian drugs can lead to psychosis. Therefore, we evaluated the patterns of prescribed antipsychotics and antiparkinsonian drugs in patients with senile dementia. Methods: We used data from the sample of elderly patients from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA-APS-2016). We analyzed the patterns of prescribing antipsychotics and antiparkinsonian drugs including prescribed daily dosage, period of prescription, and number of patients with both antipsychotics and antiparkinsonian drugs for senile dementia. Results: Among the 159,391 patients with dementia included in this analysis, 4,963 patients (3.1%) and 16,499 patients (10.4%) were prescribed typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs, respectively. The most frequently prescribed typical antipsychotic was haloperidol (4,351 patients with dementia), whereas the atypical agent was quetiapine (12,719 patients). The most frequently prescribed antiparkinsonian drugs were in the order of levodopa/carbidopa, benztropine, and ropinirole. In addition, 1,103 and 3,508 patients prescribed typical and atypical antipsychotics, respectively, were co-prescribed antiparkinsonian drugs. Conclusions: Atypical antipsychotics were the preferred prescription in patients with senile dementia. The prescription dose was relatively low; however, the average treatment duration was mostly long-term. Selection of antipsychotics and/or antiparkinsonian drugs should be made carefully in senile dementia and the causal relationship of adverse drug reactions needs further study.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.145-161
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to survey the actual condition of the Middle School Students on a Drug. In this study, 500 middle school students in Seoul response to a questionnaire which is composed to analyse two categories, i.e. general facts, the actual condition of drug use (the frequency of drug use, the degree of perception on drugs, the people using a drug surrounding the degree of purchase on drugs). And the students are classified by satisfactory degree on their home backgrounds, satisfactory degree on their school life, and school record. The data is analysed by means of frequency, percentage, chi-square test and Pearson's correlation using the $SPSS-PC^+$ package program. The results of this study were as follow : The frequency of drug use except a alcohol and the degree of perception on a drug among female students are higher than among male. The female students are more permissive on the drug use and they are also tend to think more easily the purchase of a drug. The frequency of drug use and the degree of perception on drugs are higher in the group of the lower satisfactory degree on their home background. Especially, there are many people using drugs surrounding the students in the lower group. The frequency of drug use and the degree of perception on drugs are higher in the group that has the lower satisfactory degree on school life. The students in the group having low school record have more dangerous thought about the use of drugs than the students of high record. The degree of perception on a drug is higher in a higher group, and the students in a higher group also think more easily the purchase of drugs. The percentage of students using drugs are not high, but the high percentage of students are interested in the drugs and they have permissive attitudes on drugs. Thus, the preventive education for drug abuse must be done rapidly.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.139-144
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• 2007

Recent studies suggest that alterations in glutamate receptor subunit levels in mesocorticolimbic dopamine areas could account for neural adaptations in response to psychostimulant drugs. Although many drugs of abuse induce changes in ionotropic glutamate receptor subunits in mesocorticolimbic dopamine areas, the changes of ionotropic glutamate receptor subunits by repeated nicotine treatment in these areas are not known. To answer this question, we injected male Sprague-Dawley rats twice daily with nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) or saline (1 ml/kg) for 10 days. The immunoreactivity of NR1, GluR1, and GluR2 glutamate receptor subunits was examined $16{\sim}18 h$ after the last injection of saline or nicotine. Repeated nicotine treatment significantly increased NR1 levels in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). In addition, repeated nicotine treatment showed a tendency towards an increase in GluR1 levels in the VTA as well as in striatum. However, there was no significant change in glutamate receptor subunits in other areas including nucleus accumbens (NAc). These results demonstrate that repeated nicotine treatment increases NR1 levels in VTA similarly to other drugs of abuse, suggesting that elevated glutamate receptor subunits in the VTA, but not NAc may be involved in the excitation of mesocorticolimbic dopamine neurons by nicotine.

• 한국사회복지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.705-731
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• 2004

This study is to be used for research material for pastoral counseling, by analyzing grounded-theoretically how substance abusers' awareness of self and experience of relations affects problems in abusing drugs. The subject of this study was chosen as 9 prisoners who were able to participate in group counseling, among those who were in prison for substance abuse and had more than 6 months of penal servitude left. In addition, in order to indicate counseling research methods through this study, 12 group counselings were carried out during October 24th. 2002 and February 14th. 2003 and verbatim were written out to be used as original material. After the research material was analyzed, they could be categorized into 60 concepts on the whole from 'conflict' and 'constraining thinking' to 'rationalization' and 'avoidance'. When these concepts were organized into groups of similarity, there were all together 20 categories. From this study, it can be found that substance abusers had "problems about self" and "problems about relations". The factor which affected their use of drugs was the area of relations, where as henceforth their use of drugs, the situation in which they could not escape from the use of substances was affected by problems within the area of self. When facing such problems as substance abuse, the pastoral counselor must create a holding environment through counseling, and perform good enough mothering by being insightful and providing active support on the problem. They must also help one's growth into "an empathizing self", "an accepting self", "a trusting self", "a hopeful self", who can empathize, accept, trust and hope, through experience in separation from the problem, conversion, meta-communication, self-rumination, relations and inspiration of hope. Likewise, the church must be able to act as a "place of growth and skill" which aids in the forming of relations and helps to be aware of self through experience in, and understanding of, relations.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Drug dependence deals a heavy socioeconomic burden to the society. For adolescents, the damage from drug dependence is greater than adults considering their higher susceptibility to drug effect and increasing chance for violence leading to criminal punishment process. Habitual drug use depends on genetic and environmental factors and the complex interactions between the two. Mammalian model systems have been useful in understanding the neurochemical and cellular impacts of abused drugs on specific regions of the brain, and in identifying the molecular targets of drugs. More elucidation is required whether biological effects of drugs actually cause the habitual dependence at the cellular level. Although there is much insight available on the nature of drug abuse problems, none of the systems designed to help drug dependent individuals is efficient in screening functional ingredients of the drug, and thus resulting in the failure of helping drug dependent individuals recover from drug dependence. Alternative model systems draw the attention of researchers, such as the invertebrate model systems of nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans) and fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). These models should provide new insight into the mechanisms leading to the behavior of drug users (even functional studies analyzing molecular mechanism), and screening useful components to help remove drug dependence among drug users. The relatively simple anatomy and gene expression of the invertebrate model systems should enable researchers to coordinate current knowledge on drug abuse. Furthermore, the invertebrate model systems should facilitate advance in experiments on the susceptibility of specific genetic backgrounds and the interaction between genetic factors to drug dependence.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.432-440
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• 2003

Purpose: To provide basic data for strategy of substance abuse through the investigation of the status of substance abuse and knowledge and attitude about drugs in the elementary students. Method: Subjects were 565 6th grade of elementary students. Data were collected from June to July 2001 by using structured questionnaire. Result: 1) Among the students of respondents, 10.2% of them had the experience in smoking, 26.7% and 08% of them in drinking and inhalants, respectively. 2) The degree of students' knowledge about substance was 20.9 points on average with the highest score being 30. Students' knowledge about substances, smoking came on top, next came drinking and inhalants followed them. There were no significant differences in the knowledge of substances by general and drug related characteristics of the students. 3) The students' attitude about substances was negative with 30 points on average with the highest score being 108. As for the attitude about substances, they revealed the most generous in drinking next in smoking and inhalants. Those of boys, bored in school life and experienced in substance abuse were significantly generous in the attitude about substances. 4) There was a significant weak inverse relationship between the student's knowledge and attitude about substances (r=-0.13). As for the relationship between the student's knowledge and attitude about substances, the strongest relationship was shown in inhalants (r=-0.18) next in drinking (r=-0.16) and smoking (r=-0.06). Conclusion: The results of the finding suggest that the developing of programs in substance abuse for the elementary students are needed not only for the prevention but also for the cessation.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.3-13
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• 2013

Chronic noncancer pain is a significant and growing public health challenge in the United States. Lacking effective alternative interventions for effective chronic noncancer pain management, many physicians have turned to opioid pharmacotherapy. Increased opioid prescribing brings not only gains in therapeutic benefit but also a higher incidence of adverse drug events including increased medication misuse and opioid related mortality. Currently the United States must confront the dual problems of widespread undertreated chronic noncancer pain and a prescription opioid abuse crisis. Withholding pain relieving drugs from patients in need is unjustifiable, yet drug diversion, abuse and adverse drug events have become major social as well as medical problems. At the heart of this crisis is the lack of definitive evidence about the risk to benefit ratio of opioid pharmacotherapy for chronic noncancer pain both on an individual case and on a population basis. This article describes the extent and severity of the American chronic noncancer pain problem and the history of opioid pharmacotherapy for chronic noncancer pain in the United States. It then discusses the concept of evidence based practice and reviews current evidence supporting opioid pharmacotherapy for chronic noncancer pain as well as adverse drug events related to opioid pharmacotherapy including misuse and abuse. Finally, it considers the conflict of providing pain relief versus protecting society and reviews steps that governmental agencies, industry and others are taking to contain and ultimately resolve the problems of excessive prescribing and conflicting priorities.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.111.2-112
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• 2003

Dextromethophan and carisoprodol have been abused to obtain a hallucination for longer than 10 years in Korea. Due to their seriousness of abuse liablility, recently government decided to control them as a psychotropic agents. As these are controlled, it is necessary for us to establish the analysis of these medicine and their metabolites in hair to prove the abuse of these drugs. This study is described for the determination of dextrometorphan and carisoprodol in hair. (omitted)

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.53-61
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• 2009

Oxytocin(OT), classically known to stimulate labour and milk ejection, contributes to play an important role in a wide range of behavioral effects including drug addiction. An increasing body of evidence suggests that OT ameliorates acute and long-term effects of commonly used drugs by means of interacting with the mesolimbic dopamine system. Mesolimbic dopamine system is thought to play a major role in the reinforcing properties of drug abuse. Oxytocin receptors in the nucleus accumbens(NAc) and ventral tegmental area(VTA) have been implicated in the regulation of reinforcing effects in abused drugs. In the same way acupuncture may attenuate the reinforcing effects of abused drugs in the NAc and VTA. We have an interest in similar liaison between the substrates of acupuncture and drug addiction that may involve OT. Here, we described the possibility that acupuncture modulates the reinforcing and sensitizing properties of abused drugs in the dopaminergic system via the regulation of activities in the oxytocinergic system. The elements in this paper are summarized as follows : neuroanatomical studies of oxytocinergic innervation and distribution of oxytocin receptors; experiments related to the methamphetamine, cocaine, morphine and ethanol; experiments related to the oxytocin and acupuncture.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.49-65
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• 1993

This study had conducted to push our society for getting some proper measures of the anti-drug abuse and adopting this study as a fundamental data for the school health education. Sample subjects were the 3rd grade of high school in Chungnam Province and the number were 1,014. The data had been collected on Dec. 3th-8th, 1990 according to the tool of Institute on Drug Abuse of Korea. And then Frequency and $x^2-test$ were need to analyse of data by SPSS-X program. The results of this study could be summarized as follows. 1. They had used 14 kinds of drugs: $70.1\%$ of the subjects students used alcohol, $69.2\%$ analgesics, $38.6\%$ cigarette, $15.0\%$ stimulants, $14.7\%$ antitussives, $11.2\%$ antithistamines, $8.9\%$ hypnotics, $7.1\%$tranquilizers, $4.2\%$ inhalants, $2.3\%$ marijuana, $1.4\%$ hallucinogens, $0.9\%$ cocaine, $0.6\%$ amphetamines, and $0.6\%$narcotics. The boys' drug using rate is higher than girls' except in analgesics and stimulants. 2. With respect to misbehaving, $43.0\%$ of the students said they had pop houses, $42.4\%$ adult video, $17.4\%$ unexcused absence from school, $11.0\%$ dangerous weapon, $9.1\%$ sexual intercourse, $70.1\%$ disappearance from home, 8.0% blackmail, and $6.0\%$ assault. In every kinds of misbehaving, the boys' misbehaving rate is higher than the girls'. 3. Almost every kinds of drugs have the students first used at the age of 15 through. 18. And $13.8\%$ of the students smoked every da·y and $1.7\%$ drank every day. 4. The frequency of the drug using such as cigarette (p<.01), marijuana (p<.05), cocaine (p<.05) and narcotics (p<.05) showed the stastically significant differences according to the religions of the subjects 5. The subjects who has complaints about someone use more drugs than the ones who doesn't, and who doesn't have any complaints about five elements have never used drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, narcotics, hallucinogens, and inhalants. 6. The drug using subjects have the more experiences of adult video, pop houses, and unexcused absent from school than the non-drug using ones. It means that the subjects who use drug were apt to do misbehaving more often than the ones who have never used them, and delinquent boys and girls use more drugs.