• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.322-323
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• 2001

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.289-319
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• 1997

Non-medical use of drugs to enhance performance at Olympic Games by athletes has been prohibited by the International Olympic Committee(IOC) since 1968 on medical and ethical grounds. IOC wants to protect athlete from harmful side effect of drugs due to misuse of it. It also, ethically, wants to have Games run on fair base, not fortified by performance enhancing drugs, The banned substances include stimulants, narcotic analgesics, anabolic sterolds, ${\beta}-blockers$ and diuretics. In order to prevent the positive reaction in the doping test induced by herb medicine, this study was done on about Bojungchisheup-tang. The laboratory set up doping analyses methods to cover as many drugs as possible without sacrificing sensitivity and specificity within one procedure. Its screening method consisted of four different procedures. The results were negative. According to the above results, Bojungchisheup-tang taken by athletes would show the negative reaction in the doping test. So its prescription for athletes can be given without worries of the doping test.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.304-315
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• 2012

Today, suicide by self-poisoning of prescribed or non-prescribed drugs on purpose has been increasing and is a major cause of mortality. It is very important to treat promptly and properly for saving the lives from those suicides. There is neither an organization such as poison control center nor measurement in S. Korea, though. The object of this study was to evaluate information of frequently used substances for suicide attempt in S. Korea. Our results also can provide healthcare provider including pharmacists and doctors, etc and contribute to increasing health and welfare for Korean. From June $1^{st}$ 2006 to April $30^{th}$ 2012, we retrospectively studied patients visiting emergency room due to suicide attempt. We collected information of underlying disease, history of past medical condition and suicide attempt, ingredient and getting route of ingesting substances, emergency treatment, and outcome by reviewing electronic medical record. We also evaluated actual treatment of self-poisoning and made guide information about antidote medication for S. Korean healthcare provider. Among total 242 cases of suicidal attempts, cases ingesting substances including prescription, non-prescription drugs and agricultural chemicals were 86.4%. The most frequently used drugs for suicide attempt were sedatives-hypnotics (53.6%), followed by analgesics (16.7%) and antidepressants (12.4%). Analgesics including acetaminophen and aspirin were most in teenagers but sedatives-hypnotics including benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepine (zolpidem) and antihistamine were most in other ages including elderly people. Most frequently used antidote was activated charcoal (62.7%) and specific antidotes for some substances (acetaminophen, aspirin, agricultural chemicals) were also treated properly, accompanying with medication for supportive care. In conclusion, the most used substances for suicide attempt were sedatives-hypnotics and treatments for self-poisoning in emergency room were appropriate based on existing references. Therefore, information of frequently used substances and antidote reflecting these results will be useful for South Korean healthcare provider.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.183-192
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was aimed to identify the status of utilization of healthcare services and self-care behaviors, knowledge level and influencing choice factors of non-prescription drugs (OTCs) on consumers since sales of OTCs at the outside of pharmacy in Korea, and to confirm the changes in perception of consumers for OTCs policy through check of perception level for current OTCs policy. Methods: Data was collected from April 2014 to May 2014 from questionnaires by 418 adults who are in university located in Seoul or live in Seoul Metropolitan area but not health science major and healthcare providers. Results: The female gender was 56.6% and University students were 73.9%. The ratio by age was as follows: below 25 (60.9%), 26-30 (18.2%), 30-40s (14.9%) and 50-60s (6.0%). The knowledge level of OTCs for use of medicine, dose and side effects was generally low and especially they knew little how to deal with side effects after taking OTCs on sale at the outside of pharmacy, even though over one year has passed since the policy. The proportion of those who thought the current OTCs policy has problems regarding safety issues since the policy was very high and it was also high that the study group thought there are problems with the current way to sale OTCs and educate employees. Conclusion: After selling OTCs at the outside of pharmacy, the consumers still lacked knowledge of OTCs and did not get correct information properly. Especially, they had little information about the way to deal with side effects after taking OTCs. Public policy should be based on the health of the people and the public health is a national health priority. When all these things are taken into consideration, the government has to strengthen the OTCs policy and provide a safer environment with the accurate drug information for people than developing OTCs policy in the future.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.304-314
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• 2001

Major purposes of this study were to investigate the administration patterns of analgesics and sedatives in SICU and to identify the factors influencing the use of prn analgesics and sedatives by ICU nurses. The sample of this descriptive study was 50 adult patients in SICU and 53 ICU nurses. Patient's medical records were reviewed to investigate names, doses, the routes of administration, the interval of administration, and the type of prescription of sedatives and analgesics administered. Study medications were narcotics, hypnotics, and antipsychotics. To identify the factors influencing the use of prn analgesics and sedatives, 53 ICU nurses checked 9 items, and rank them from first to fifth. The selection of items was based on the previous studies and the experience of the investigator. The results of the study are as follows: 1. The mean age of the subjects was 53 years, 24 patients out of 50 subjects had received mechanical ventilation therapy. Most of the patients received neurosurgeries and abdominal surgeries. 2. For 4 days, 13 total study medications and combination of these were administered to the patients. Commonly prescribed drugs were Ketoprofen and Midazolam. Twenty six to fourty two percent of the patients did not receive any drugs for at least one day during the four days. 3. On the average, the study drugs were administerd 1.4 to 2.6 times per day during 4 days. 4. More than 50 percent of the prescription was as-needed (prn) except those of the POD 3. Fourteen percent of the patients did not have any prescription for sedation and pain control after surgery. 5. Examination of the frequency of sedatives and analgesics bolus administration revealed that a greater number of doses were given during daytime (from 7 am. to 7 pm.) than nighttime (from 7 pm. to 7 am.). The difference was significant at Alpha, .05. 6. First factor that most influenced nurses to administer sedatives and analgesics for intubated patients was the evaluation of patient's vital signs (51%). For non- intubated patients, the factors that nurses considered important were the patients' complaints of pain (64%) and evaluations of patients' vital signs (23%). In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that patients in SICU might not receive enough analgesics and sedatives to feel completely free from pain during the post operational period. Future study should be focused on the evaluation of the adequacy of current practice for pain and anxiety control in terms of the SICU patient's response.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-93
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• 2000

This study is intended to investigate medication compliance and polypharmacy of the diabetic patients by age group in order to determine the major factors that influence their compliance. 198 ambulatory diabetic patients were interviewed, and the sample was divided into three groups based on the age: Young age group under 55, Borderline age group between 55 - 65, Old age group over 65. According to the study results, medication compliance for the old age group was 72.6% whereas 85.1% for the young age group. Medication compliance significantly decreased as the age of the patients increased. Also the degree of polypharmacy, the rate which patients take more than 6 prescription drugs, was 45.9% for the old group, whereas 31.2% for the young group. As the most important factor of polypharmacy, the number of doctors was statistically significant. With regard to prescription factors related to medication compliance, the amount of prescribed medication is statistically significant between the compliance group and non-compliance group. In addition, the amount of information provided to patients by pharmacists was determined to be a very significant factor. Also the level of ease in understanding the medication instructions varied significantly between the compliance group and the non-compliance group. In light of the empirical data and results for the diabetic patients, it is necessary to develop and implement various programs to improve medication compliance and to decrease the level of polypharmacy among the elderly, or "old", diabetic patients. patients.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.88-98
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• 2017

To prevent toxicity from both robax platinum (methocarbamol, ibuprofen) and robaxacet (methocarbomol, acetaminophen), separately, we used stretches and naproxen as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to compare each effectiveness. This study used the United States Forces Korea Prescription form (Annex A-Over-The-Counter Prescription) and Alice Rich's Pain scale with robax platinum, robaxacet including narproxen. The IBM SPSS statics version 24 was used to calculate the data. The combined methocarbamol 500 mg, acetaminophen 325 mg tablet, and ibuprofen 200 mg (or naproxen) tablet can work as well as the combined methocarbamol 500 mg tablet with acetaminophen 325 mg tablet with stretches. Both methods were successful in managing pain. The drug combination of methocarbamol 500 mg, acetaminophen 325 mg and ibuprofen 200 mg tablets yielded similar benefits as the methocarbamol 500 mg and acetaminophen 325 mg tablets paired with physical stretching exercises regarding managing overall pain.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.205-210
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• 2021

Over 30 million prescriptions of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are issued every year. Considering that these drugs are available without a prescription as over the counter (OTC) drugs, their use will be astronomical. With the increasing use of NSAIDs, their adverse effects are drawing attention. Especially, stomach bleeding, kidney toxicity, liver toxicity, and neurological toxicity are reported as common. Ibuprofen, one of the extensively used NSAIDs along with aspirin, can also induce liver toxicity, but few studies are addressing this point. Here we examined the liver toxicity of ibuprofen and investigated whether co-exposure to ethanol can manifest synergistic effects. We employed 2D and 3D cultured human hepatoma cells, HepG2 to examine the synergistic hepatotoxicity of ibuprofen and alcohol concerning cell viability, morphology, and histology of 3D spheroids. As a result, ibuprofen and alcohol provoked synergistic hepatotoxicity against hepatocytes, and their toxicity increased prominently in 3D culture upon extended exposure. Oxidative stress appeared to be the mechanisms underlying the synergistic toxicity of ibuprofen and alcohol as evidenced by increased production of ROS and expression of the endogenous antioxidant system. Collectively, this study has demonstrated that ibuprofen and EtOH can induce synergistic hepatotoxicity, providing a line of evidence for caution against the use of ibuprofen in combination with alcohol.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.147-159
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• 2012

Objectives: Systems related to the production, authorization, and listing for insurance of herbal medicine products were compared between South Korea and Taiwan to illuminate herbal medicine products system issues in South Korea. Methods: Papers, and laws and policies related to the production, authorization, and listing for insurance of herbal medicine products in South Korea and Taiwan are analyzed to create the primary documents. The documents from South Korea were screened with the advice of a specialist, while those from Taiwan have been verified through local investigation and with the help of a related specialist. The screened documents were then compared and analyzed in the order of the systems related to the production, authorization, and listing for insurance of herbal medicine products. Results: The systems related to the production of herbal medicine products satisfy GMP requirements in both countries, while Taiwan has more specialized systems related to the production of herbal medicine products and a more strict authorization program as compared to South Korea. While South Korea has most of the herbal medicine products classified as non-prescription drugs, Taiwan has them as prescription drugs. And while South Korea does not allow new herbal medicine products to be listed for insurance, Taiwan allows for once-a-year application toward listing for insurance. Conclusions: In order to ensure the safe and effective use of herbal medicine products, systems related to the production, authorization, and listing for insurance of herbal medicine products are to be established, while the categorization of medicine products principally used by Korean medicine doctors should be prepared. Furthermore, prescription by a Korean medicine doctor for new drugs made with natural products and their listing for insurance need to be encouraged.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.137-149
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• 2016

Objective: Online pharmacies were introduced in some countries such as United States of America or Canada. They can provide benefits to consumer because they can buy and take conveniently drugs without limitation of location or time. In Korea, online pharmacies are illegal and only pharmacists can sell drugs to consumers or patients. Therefore, we investigated the knowledge of online pharmacy and the possible problem in Korea to survey pharmacists. Methods: We developed questionnaire based on previous articles about online pharmacy and surveyed nation-wide pharmacists by mail or e-mail. The data was analyzed by SPSS and Microsoft Excel. P-values less than 0.05 were statistically significant. Results: 175 pharmacists involved in this study. About introduction of online pharmacies, 53.1% were opposition while 10.3% were approval and 36.6% were conditional. Although online pharmacies were introduced, 46.3% pharmacists do not have a plan to start online pharmacy. However, the approval and tends about starting online pharmacies were higher in younger pharmacists (20s, 30s) (p < 0.05). The criteria of permission about opening online pharmacies were 100% pharmacist license regardless of holding off-line pharmacy. 53.7% pharmacists responded education about taking medication is impossible. When online pharmacies are introduced, 65.1% pharmacists responded traditional pharmacies are affected negatively. Pharmacists concerned that the competition with large-sized distribution corporations, reduced reliance between pharmacists and patients, illegal transaction of counterfeit drugs, increased misuse of drugs. Conclusion: These results showed that Korea pharmacists have negative standard on online pharmacies. Therefore it is required to be more cautious before introducing online pharmacy and it need strict watching system and continuous education and study for safety after introducing online pharmacy.