• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 1993

The author reviewed the general principle in the use of psychotropics for patients with renal diseases. who have psychiatric problems. Durgs which are dialyzable and metabolized or eliminated by kidney should not be used for patients with renal failure. However, lithium can be effectively used in a single dose$(300{\sim}600 mg/day)$ after each dialysis. though lithium has the double negative components. It is recommended that serum lithium level should be frequently monitored and the dose of lithium should be gradually increased to minimize its side effect Most of other psychotropics such as benzodiazepine anxiolytics tricyclic or tetracyclic antidepressants, and neuroleptics are metabolized in the liver, and they can be used in renal patients. The dose of these drugs should be reduced in two-thirds of the standard dose. In addition. it is necessary for liaison psychiatrists and other physicians to understand the interactions between psychotropics and drugs often used for treatment of renal diseases in order to prescribe psychotropics safely and effectively in renal patients.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2010

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common sensorimotor disorder that is characterized by an urge to move the legs and peculiar, unpleasant sensations deep in the legs and its prevalence in the general population is between 3.2% and 15%. RLS significantly impairs patients' lives, often by severely disrupting sleep. However, both clinicians and patients under-recognize the RLS. RLS phenotypes include an idiopathic form and secondary form that is usually resulted from various causative conditions. The pathophysiology of RLS may be related with the dopaminergic system, which is closely linked to a number of psychotropic medications, including antidepressant and antipsychotics. Several antidepressants and antipsychotics have been shown to induce or exacerbate RLS. We need pay attention to the fact that commonly prescribed medications can be the cause of RLS.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.149-154
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• 2015

Mood disorder is a common psychiatric illness with a high lifetime prevalence in the general population. Many prescribed antidepressants modulate monoamine neurotransmitters including serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. There has been greater focus on the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the human brain, glutamate, in the pathophysiology and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Recently, ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, has received attention and has been investigated for clinical trials and neurobiological studies. In this article, we will review the clinical evidence for glutamatergic dysfunction in MDD, the progress with ketamine as a rapidly acting antidepressant, and other N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist for treatment-resistant depression.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2008

Major depressive disorder(MDD) is one of the most common diseases with serious health consequences such as increased morbidity, disability, and mortality. Electroconvulsive therapy(ECT) has been used as a treatment for mental disorder since the 1930s. A growing number of recent publications support the conclusions that ECT is an effective and safe treatment for depressed patients. Dosing strategies, frequency, safety, side effects and efficacy of ECT in MDD will be considered. ECT may be an alternative to treatment with antidepressants.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.46-55
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• 1998

Any compound which disrupts the integrity of psychological aspects of performance, in particular, cognitive ability and psychomotor function analogous to the psychological behaviors of routine life, is known to be behaviorally toxic. A significant level of behavioral toxicity will interfere with patient safety and quality of life, and also may be counter-therapeutic by exacerbating the condition that the drug was prescribed for. Now, behavioral toxicity of psychotropic drugs has become one of the main growth areas of psychopharmacological research. Evaluation of the potential of drug-induced behavioral toxicity is important not only to the experimental researcher involved in human psychopharmacology, but also to the clinical practitioner treating psychiatric patients. This article attempts to describe behavioral toxicity of the three classes of psychotropic drugs - benzodiazepines, antidepressants and neuroleptics. After a brief discussion of some methodological issues arising in the investigation of behavioral toxicity, each of these drug classes is reviewed in the context of practical importance rather than purely scientific concern. The last session summarizes some suggestions for future studies on drug-induced behavioral toxicity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.84-86
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• 2016

Globus pharyngeus or globus sensation is the painless sensation of a lump in the throat and may be described as a foreign body sensation, a tightening or choking feeling. It is often associated with persistent clearing of the throat, chronic cough, hoarseness, and catarrh. Its etiology remains unclear ; however, laryngopharyngeal reflux may play a role in a subset of patients. Psychogenic problems have often been thought to cause or trigger the globus sensation. Personality studies have found higher levels of alexithymia, neuroticism, and psychological distress (including anxiety, low mood, and somatic concerns) and lower levels of extraversion in patients presenting with globus. Globus patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux exhibited weaker psychological symptoms than non- laryngopharyngeal reflux globus patients, and globus patients who did not respond to proton pump inhibitor had significantly higher anxiety scores. In cases with negative clinical investigations and consistent globus symptom, other treatment strategies, including speech therapy, antidepressants, and cognitive-behavioral therapy, should be considered.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.149-154
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• 1998

Antipsychotic drugs(APDs) have been effective to alleviate psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. However, some schizophrenic patients do not respond to APDs. In addition to psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, negative symptoms, excitement, violence, agitation, depression, and disorganization are frequently noted in patients with schizophrenia. Though APDs are the first line drugs for these symptoms, other drugs than APDs to augment the effects of APDs are efficacious for the treatment of these symptoms. Such augmenting drugs include benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, lithium, and electroconvulsive therapy. These augmentation strategies can boost the effects of APDs or decrease the requirements of APDs, and consequently decrease the chance of the occurrence of side effects of APDs. Augmenting strategies are revewed for each class of drugs or treatment modality.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.189-196
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• 2011

Major depressive disorder is characterized by cellular and molecular alterations resulting in the depressive behavioral phenotypes. Preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the deficits, including cell atrophy and loss, in limbic and cortical regions of patients with depression, which is restored with antidepressants by reestablishing proper molecular changes. These findings have implicated the involvement of relevant intracellular signaling pathways in the pathogenetic and therapeutic mechanisms of depressive disorders. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the signal transduction mechanisms related to depressive disorders, including cyclic-AMP, mitogen-activated protein kinase, Akt, and protein translation initiation signaling cascades. Understanding molecular components of signaling pathways regulating neurobiology of depressive disorders may provide the novel targets for the development of more efficacious treatment modalities.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.177-184
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• 2015

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a transient disease caused by the reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus (VZV) in spinal or cranial sensory ganglia. It is characterized by a painful rash in the affected dermatome. Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most troublesome side effect associated with HZ. However, PHN is often resistant to current analgesic treatments such as antidepressants, anticonvulsants, opioids, and topical agents including lidocaine patches and capsaicin cream and can persist for several years. The risk factors for reactivation of HZ include advanced age and compromised cell-mediated immunity (CMI). Early diagnosis and treatment with antiviral agents plus intervention treatments is believed to shorten the duration and severity of acute HZ and reduce the risk of PHN. Prophylactic vaccination against VZV can be the best option to prevent or reduce the incidence of HZ and PHN. This review focuses on the pathophysiology, clinical features, and management of HZ and PHN, as well as the efficacy of the HZ vaccine.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.195-195
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• 2001

The inhibitory potentials of TCAs (imipramine, desipramine, amitriptyline, and nortriptyline) on phenytoin p-hydroxylation and probe metabolic pathways of each CYP isoforms were evaluated from incubation studies of human liver microsomes and cDNA-expressed cytochrome P450s in vitro in order to understand the mechanism of drug interaction between TCAs and phenytoin, a substrate of CYP2C9 and CYP2C19. (omitted)