• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.77-88
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• 1990

Management of the child with Attention-Deficit Hyperativity Disorder(ADHD) reguires a comprehensive approach of cognitive-behavioral, educational, and pharmacological interventions. Establishing the valid diagnosis is the first step of management. After the diagnosis is made, the clinician must then interpret the diagnosis and its impliations to the child, parents, and teachers. The pharmacotherapy is most effeceive, and the CNS stimulants (methylphenidate) is drug of choice. Although generally not as effective as stimulants, triacyclic antidepressants, clonidine, antipsychotics offer the alternatives to stimulants therapy. Additional treatments, including psychotherapy, cogntive-behavioral approach, educational infervention, parental counseling are also essential in managing the child with ADHD. Finally, controversial approaches-diet therapy, mineral therapy, hypoglycemia, megavitamin therapy, refined sugars, neurophysiological retraining approaches are reviewed.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.69-79
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• 2016

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a degenerative disease characterized by the selective frontal and temporal lobe atrophy, and progressive deficits in behavior, executive function, or language. The prevalence and incidence of FTD are 15-22/100000 and 2.7-4.1/100000, respectively, in midlife. Hereditary is an important risk factor for FTD. Although there is some controversy regarding the further syndromatic subdivision of the different types of FTD, FTD is clinically classified into behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia and progressive nonfluent aphasia. FTD can be misdiagnosed as many psychiatric disorders because of similarity of the prominent behavioral features. Advances in clinical, imaging, and molecular characterization have increased the accuracy of FTD diagnosis, thus developing for the accurate differentiation of these syndromes from psychiatric disorders. We also discuss about therapeutic strategies for symptom management of FTD. Medications such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, and other novel treatments have been used in FTD with various rates of success. Further advanced research should be directed at understanding and developing new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities to improve the FTD patients' prognosis and quality of life.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.758-764
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• 2018

Dementia is a clinical syndrome characterized by a cluster of symptoms and signs that manifest as difficulties in cognitive functions such as memory, psychological and psychiatric changes, and impairments in activities of daily living. As a result of worldwide trends of population aging, dementia has had a huge impact on public health in almost all countries. Disease modification therapies for dementia have not yet been developed. However, pharmacotherapy is essential in patients with dementia to combat delays in their cognitive and functional decline. In this article, we review the current pharmacotherapy for dementia. Three acetylcholinesterase inhibitors-donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine-and memantine are the only medications that have been approved for the treatment of dementia. We present the indications, dose recommendations, side effects, and criteria for National Health Insurance coverage in Korea of these medications for dementia treatment. Although the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea has not approved any medications for managing the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, some antipsychotics and antidepressants have been studied and used clinically for those purposes. Clinicians may consider vitamin E, Ginkgo biloba extract, choline alfoscerate, or omega-3 fatty acids as additional treatment options. Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, estrogen hormone therapy, and statins are not generally recommended for dementia treatment. We believe that our findings will aid clinicians in the treatment of patients with cognitive decline.

• Korean Journal of Schizophrenia Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2019

Objectives: Clozapine is the drug of choice in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. However, its use is often delayed and a significant proportion of clozapine treated patients fails to respond and experience potentially dangerous side-effects. The aim of this retrospective study was to describe the clinical characteristics of patients started on clozapine and the rate and reason of discontinuation of clozapine. Methods: Medical records of 83 patients started on clozapine during the period of 2012-2016 were reviewed. Results: Clozapine started on patients in chronic phase; the mean age of start was 38.1 years old and the mean number of psychiatric admission was 6.5. A majority (80.7%) of the patients had been subjected to antipsychotic polypharmacy prior to clozapine and most (61.5%) of them were being treated with polypharmacy including clozapine. Overall, 39 (47.0%) subjects had continued clozapine whereas 15 (18.1%) discontinued it; 29 (34.9%) were lost to follow-up. The most common reason for discontinuation was side-effects (n=13) including six life-threatening cases, most of which occurred within 6 months of its start. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that there is some evidence of delays to clozapine use, high rates of polypharmacy and significant rate of discontinuation during the early phase of clozapine treatment.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.177-185
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• 2003

Object:We investigated the relationship between prolactin response to antipsychotics and clinical courses of psychotic symptoms and DAT gene polymorphisms. Method:Twenty-four acute psychotic inpatients completed the 12-week trial of risperidone. Serum prolactin, BPRS, ESRS and hyperprolactinemia-related symptoms were measured at baseline, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks after medication. The DAT gene polymorphisms were analyzed. Results:The serum prolactin was significantly increased over time. According to the prolactin level at 2-week, the subjects were divided into the severe group(serum prolactin>60ng/mL, N=15) and the mild group (serum prolactin<60ng/mL, N=9). The prolactin levels of the mild group didn't increase beyond 60ng/mL throughout 12 weeks. Severe group had slower decrement of BPRS scores than those of mild group. Six females in severe group complained of irregular menstruations, but no female in mild group. Most patients had 10 allele of DAT gene. Conclusion:This study suggests that the magnitude of prolactin elevation at the 2-week of risperidone medication is correlated with severity of hyperprolactinemia throughout treatments. Our results did not show the relationship between prolactin responses and DAT gene polymorphisms.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2012

Schizophrenia is a devastating psychiatric illness that afflicts 1% of the population worldwide, resulting in substantial impact to patients, their families, and health care delivery systems. For many years, schizophrenia has been felt to be associated with dysregulated dopaminergic neurotransmission as a key feature of the pathophysiology of the illness. Although numerous studies point to dopaminergic abnormalities in schizophrenia, dopamine dysfunction cannot completely account for all of the symptoms seen in schizophrenia, and dopamine-based treatments are often inadequate and can be associated with serious side effects. More recently, converging lines of evidence have suggested that there are abnormalities of glutamate transmission in schizophrenia. Glutamatergic neurotransmission involves numerous molecules that facilitate glutamate release, receptor activation, glutamate reuptake, and other synaptic activities. Evidence for glutamatergic abnormalities in schizophrenia primarily has implicated the NMDA and AMPA subtypes of the glutamate receptor. The expression of these receptors and other molecules associated with glutamate neurotransmission has been systematically studied in the brain in schizophrenia. These studies have generally revealed region- and molecule-specifi c changes in glutamate receptor transcript and protein expression in this illness. Given that glutamatergic neurotransmission has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, recent drug development efforts have targeted the glutamate system. Much effort to date has focused on modulation of the NMDA receptor, although more recently other glutamate receptors and transporters have been the targets of drug development. These efforts have been promising thus far, and ongoing efforts to develop additional drugs that modulate glutamatergic neurotransmission are underway that may hold the potential for novel classes of more effective treatments for this serious psychiatric illness.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.143-151
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• 2004

Objectives : Child and adolescent onset obsessive compulsive disorder(C-OCD) is known to be associated with poor drug response, high comorbid rate and strong genetic tendencies. Till now studies for C-OCD have been very rare in Korea. We conducted this study to investigate the informations about clinical features, familial psychiatric loading, treatment profiles and course of server C-OCD from the retrospective analysis of inpatient data of Seoul National University Children's Hospital. Method : Retrospective chart review and data analysis was performed. Twenty(male 16 : female 4) patients with final C-OCD diagnosis by DSM-IV at discharge from 1994 to 2002 were found and their medical chart, psychological data, family interview data and nursing reports were collected and analyzed. Results : 1) The sex ratio of C-OCD was male dominant(4:1). 2) Phenomenological, most common obsession was pathologic doubt, contamination fear, followed by aggressive obsession, need for symmetry, sexual obsession, most common compulsion was checking and washing, followed by breathing, movement, symmetry, repetitive asking, hoarding, mental compulsion. 3) Most common comorbid diagnosis was depression. Other axis-I diagnosis associated OCD were anxiety disorder, tic disorder, conduct and oppositional defiant disorder and psychosis. 4) Regarding psychiatric familial loadings, 17 patients(85%) had relatives with psychiatric disorders, OC-spectrum disorders(OCD or OCPD) were found in 9 patients(45%). 5) The majority of patients(75%) have received SSRI and antipsychotics treatment. The response rate above 'moderate improved" by CGI was 75%. 6) During follow-up period in outpatient clinic, five patients(25%) showed continuous complete remission, 10 patients (50%) did residual symptoms with chronic course. Conclusion : This seems to be the first systemic investigation of severe pediatric OCD patients in Korea. The children & adolescents with severe OCD in inpatient-setting showed the high comorbid rate, familial psychiatric loading, and combined pharmacotherapy with antipsychotics, As for symptoms, high rate of aggressive-sexual obsession and atypical compulsions like breathing and moving was reported in this study. Severe pediatric OCD patients, however, responded well to the combined SSRI and antipsychotics regimen.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.187-192
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• 2012

Objectives Although antipsychotic drug clozapine has superior efficacy, this is hampered by metabolic side effects such as weight gain and diabetes. Recent studies demonstrate that clozapine induces insulin resistance. However, the identity and location of insulin resistance induced by clozapine has not been clarified. In this study, the effect of clozapine on central insulin response was investigated in rats. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats received intraperitoneal injection of clozapine or vehicle, which was followed by intracerebroventricular injection of insulin or its vehicle. The effects of clozapine on insulin-induced changes in blood glucose level and Akt phosphorylation in hypothalamus were investigated. Results Intraperitoneal injection of clozapine (20 mg/kg) increased blood glucose in rats. Intracerebroventricular injection of insulin reduced blood glucose in rats, which was blunted by pretreatment of clozapine. Accompanied with the antagonistic effect of clozapine to central insulin action in terms of blood glucose, clozapine inhibited the insulin-induced phosphorylation of Akt at Ser473 in rat hypothalamus. Conclusion Administration of clozapine inhibited the central insulin-induced changes in blood glucose and Akt phosphorylation in rat hypothalamus. These findings suggest that hypothalamus could be the site of action for the clozapine-induced insulin resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 1993

Pervasive developmental disorder is one of the most severe clinical disorder in child psychiatry and is associated with deviancies in multiple areas of development. Medication does not cure pervasive developmental disorder and its effectiveness is generally nonspecific. But psychopharmacological treatment can be important for some children with pervasive developmental disorder and can make many young autistics more amenable to behavior modification and education. Haloperidol, the most widely studied antipsychotics, was statistically and clinically superior to placebo, and furthermore, was known to facilitate the positive functioning such as, discrimination learning and imitative communication, without side effects. However, administration of haloperidol is associated with drug related dyskinesia, and it warrants the introduction and use of the other novel drugs. Several biochemical studies suggest that subgroups of children with pervasive developmental disorder show hyperserotonemia and increased endogenous opioid level as compared with controls. Psychopharmacological trials were conducted according to these findings(ex : fenfluramine, naltrexone), with mixed results till now. These and another drugs that have been used in children with pervasive developmental disorder and their effectiveness are reviewed.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.114-121
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• 1998

Bethanechol, a cholinergic agonist, has been recommended for the management of peripheral anticholinergic side effects during the treatment of antipsychotic medications. But there have been few studies which have evaluated the drug interactions of antipsychotics and bethanechol, even the treatment effects of bethanechol on anticholinergic side effects. So the authors have evaluated whether psychopathology and plasma haloperidol and reduced haloperidol concentrations are significantly changed or not when bethanechol was administrated with maintained doses of haloperidol and other coadministrated drugs(such a benztropine). Also we have evaluated the abating effects of bethanechol on anticholinergic side effects during the treatment with haloperidol. Fifteen schizophrenics with higher than 5 of total score of anticholinergic side effects of 'Rating scale for side effect' were assigned to two groups, and bethanechol 30mg/day and 60mg/day were applied on each group for 4 weeks. The daily haloperidol dosages were fixed before 2 weeks of study. We assessed anticholinergic side effects by 'Rating scale for side effect' and psychopathology by BPRS, and plasma haloperidol and reduced haloperidol concentrations by HPLC at baseline, 2nd week and 4th week. The results were as followed, 1) there was no significant change of plasma haloperidol and reduced haloperidol concentration, 2) at baseline, the dosage of haloperidol showed significant correlation with the total score of anticholinergic side effect, but not at 2nd week and 4th week, 3) in 60mg/day group, dry mouth and the total score of anticholinergic side effects were significantly improved, but not in 30mg/day group, 4) there was no significant change of BPRS except withdrawal at 2nd week. These results suggest that coadministration of bethanechol influenced neither on psychopathology nor on plasma haloperidol and reduced haloperidol concentrations and that improved dry mouth and total score of anticholinergic side effects at 60mg/day.