• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.227-244
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• 2011

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNA molecules that negatively regulate gene expression via degradation or translational repression of their target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Recent studies have clearly demonstrated that miRNAs play critical roles in several biologic processes, including cell cycle, differentiation, cell development, cell growth, and apoptosis and that miRNAs are highly expressed in regulatory T (Treg) cells and a wide range of miRNAs are involved in the regulation of immunity and in the prevention of autoimmunity. It has been increasingly reported that miRNAs are associated with various human diseases like autoimmune disease, skin disease, neurological disease and psychiatric disease. Recently, the identification of miRNAs in skin has added a new dimension in the regulatory network and attracted significant interest in this novel layer of gene regulation. Although miRNA research in the field of dermatology is still relatively new, miRNAs have been the subject of much dermatological interest in skin morphogenesis and in regulating angiogenesis. In addition, miRNAs are moving rapidly center stage as key regulators of neuronal development and function in addition to important contributions to neurodegenerative disorder. Moreover, there is now compelling evidence that dysregulation of miRNA networks is implicated in the development and onset of human neruodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, Down syndrome, depression and schizophrenia. In this review, I briefly summarize the current studies about the roles of miRNAs in various autoimmune diseases, skin diseases, psychoneurological disorders and mental stress.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.45-51
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• 2009

Pulmonary diseases distress millions of people worldwide. Numerous studies have shown an association between pulmonary disease and psychiatric disorders. Despite this, little is known about the treatment of psychiatric disorder in patients with pulmonary disease. The three main goals of this article are 1) to discuss the major disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hyperventilation, tuberculosis, lung cancer that most clinicians see in practice, 2) to provide an information about psychiatric treatment such as anxiety, depression, psychosis in pulmonary disease, and 3) to provide some clinically relevant suggestions about pharmacologic interactions between pulmonary and psychotropic drugs.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.127-137
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• 2007

Purpose: It was investigated if abdominal meridian massage has effects on constipation in institutionalized psychiatric patients taking antipsychotic drugs. Methods: According to the constipation screening tests, 22 patients were selected as subjects. One group pre and post repeated measurement design was used. Constipation was operationalized as perceived constipation, frequency of defecation, frequency of bowel sound, and number of medicine taken to relieve constipation. Abdominal meridian massage was given for two weeks, 10-15 minutes each time and 10 times in total. Results: Perceived constipation, frequency of bowel sound, and number of medicine taken were significantly improved after massage. Except for number of medicine taken, the effects on perceived constipation and frequency of bowel sound were found to be persistent 2 weeks after massage. Conclusion: Based upon these results, abdominal meridian massage was recommended as independent nursing intervention for the relief of constipation in psychiatric patients who taking anti-psychotic drugs. Further studies to investigate the maximal duration time of effects and whether the effects of intermittent application of this method is more beneficial than the continuous application of this method are necessary.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.155-167
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• 2003

Objective : The aims of this study were to show the clinical aspects and to investigate psychiatric traits by SCL-90-R in patients who visited Oriental Medicine Hospital Emergency Room. Method : We studied twenty patients who visited Daejeon University Oriental Medicine Hospital from May, 2003 to September, 2003. Results : 1. The ratio of male to female patients was 1:3 and age distribution was most frequent in 30s&40s. 2. The most frequent cause of illness was stress in occupation and overwork. The greater part of patients came to hospital in 12hours after an attack. 3. In chief problem, somatic symptoms such as headache, dizziness, numbness and chest discomfort were most frequent. In diagnosis, somatization disorder was most frequent. 4. After treatment, most of symptoms were improved. 5. Psychiatric traits by SCL-90-R correlated with somatization and anxiety.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.219-231
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• 2010

Objectives : School refusal is usually considered as individual's behavioral problem. These days. however. the adolescents' school refusal needs some kind of medical approaches because it is related to mental disorder of the adolescents. Due to too much pressure and stress from the competition between classmates and from good performance in school. the number of adolescents who refuse to go to school is increasing. Despite this circumstance. school refusal is neither regarded as a single independent disorder nor endorsed as an officially classified disease. which makes difficult to conduct research on this issue and to establish standardized treatment for it. In addition. there is a lack of research on this topic. especially in oriental medicine. so there is no a case report or study on school refusal. This study is trying to comment on school refusal from the perspective of oriental medicine. Methods : We tried to examine the effect of oriental medicine treatment for school refusal with four adolescent cases. The patients commonly have at least more than one mental disorder (including depression disorder. anxiety disorder. and anorexia nervosa). have some problem with the relationship with their family. in particular with mother. do not have father or not be loved by their father. and have irregular eating habits. Thus. we diagnosed them as qi transforming into fire (氣鬱化矢) spleen-stomach deficiency cold (脾胃虛寒) and heart blood deficiency (心血虛) due to stress from the family issues and unhealthy eating habits. The patients received supportive therapy. family therapy. etc among many oriental mental treatments and their progress had been observed through hospitalization and outpatient treatment. Results : All four cases were reported positive progress on their symptoms and started coming back to school. We also examined whether they were well fitting into the school while they received outpatient treatment. and the results show that all four patients continue to settle down in normal school life. Conclusions : This study closely reviewed the mental disorder of school refusal cases and showed that the Oriental medical treatment was effective in helping the patients come back to school. More future research is required to better treatment for school refusal cases in oriental medicine.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.28-37
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• 1995

Clinical neuropsychology which belongs to the necuroscience field is concerned with relationship between human behaviors and the brain structure. Clinical neuropsychology has grown to be a specialized separate field within psychology over the last twenty years. Clinical neuropsychology offers an objective methodology to consider the mind-body interaction and evaluate the behavioral consequences and functional deficits associated with brain lesions. Clinical neuropsychological assessment is composed of cognitive, perceptual, motor and emotional function through various neuropsychological examinations such as Halsted-Reitan and Luria-Nebraska batteries, and computerized neuropsychological test such as PCIS Vienna Test System and Stim. The goals of neuropsychological evaluation are to identify of neuropsychological dysfuncitions, to develop execute and monitor treatment plans, and to make rehabilitation programs. Recently, the neuropsychiatric patients are increasing in number and 15-20% of acute psychiatric patients suffer from organic mental problems. Moreover, clinical neuropsychology has an increasingly important role in both neurobehavioral foundation and clinical application. So, psychiatrists must play a major role in the development of clinical neuropsychology in psychiatry.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2005

Benzodiazepines are widely used for a variety of conditions in psychiatric field. In this article, the author reviewed the indications, the effects on anxiety and sleep disorders, the side effects, the drug-drug interactions, and the tapering strategies. Benzodiazepines were relatively safe and useful for the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders. However, used clinically, benzodiazepines can induce many adverse effects (e. g. over-sedation, cognitive impairments, paradoxical effects, dependence and withdrawal symptoms, and so on). Currently available informations about their effects on the developing fetus is controversial. For this reason, pregnant women and nursing mother should be cautioned against the use of benzodiazepines. Drug-drug interactions have to be considered in combination treatments. For the tapering issues, gradual tapering was important to prevent the withdrawal symptoms. Especially, the tapering schedules have to be individualized for the each long-term benzodiapzepine users.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.39-42
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• 2009

Jeongji(情志) in Chinese medicine refers to a series of psychological activity which is expressed as hui(喜), no(怒), wu(優), sa(思), bi(悲), gong(恐), gyeong(驚), together with emotion, sentiment, and cognition, which are manifested as responses of the human body to environmental changes both inside and outside. Sa(思) is a major cognitive activity, and the other six emotions are main emotional activities. The emphasis on the interrelationship between cognition, sentiment, and emotional activity is a unique characteristic of the Jeongji(情志) concept in China. Jeongji[Mental] disorder refers to a series of diseases that has a close link between the attack, clinical presentation and emotional stimulation. The attack is deeply affected by emotional stimulation, with which physical symptoms are either present or absent. However, emotional changes are clear most of the time, their effect on disease development noticeable as well. To sum up, Jeongji[Mental] disorder is related to a wide range of medical problems in fields such as internal, surgical, gynecology, pediatrics, and various psychiatric disorders, not to mention contemporary psychological disorders, neurosis, and all kinds of mental illnesses of today. Moreover, the mental and physical disorders of today all share a common pathogenesis, clinical manifestation and treatment discipline. All the more reason for deeper professional research.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2012

Though infanticide, killing the baby after birth of the neonate and denial of pregnancy, are very rare psychiatric disorder, they have been receiving a lot of social concerns. We report and review infanticide and denial of pregnancy administration in a 19 year-old adolescent with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. Patients with a young age, cognitive immaturity, an unwanted child, hid the pregnancy facts were consistent with the results of previous studies. In addition, the patient's impulsivity and emotional instability is affecting infanticide. After inpatient care with pharmacotherapy (escitalopram 20mg, alprazolam 1.5 mg, clonazepam 0.5 mg, valproate sodium 1,100-1,300 mg, and quetiapine 100-400 mg) and supportive psychotherapy, and there were significant improvement of clinical symptoms.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2011

Objective : Depressive symptoms often coexist with other anxiety disorder symptoms. Furthermore, an anxiety disorder that is comorbid with a depressive disorder results in more severe symptoms and a poorer outcome prognosis. To understand the construct of depressive symptoms in anxiety disorder, this study investigated the factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory among outpatients with anxiety disorders. Methods : All data were from psychiatric department outpatients at a university-affiliated hospital. We conducted a principal component analysis using data from 194 outpatients with DSM-IV anxiety disorders and calculated goodness-of-fit-indices. Results : Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four factor structure--Cognitive-affective symptoms (Factor 1), Somatic symptoms (Factor 2), Self-reproach (Factor 3), and Hypochondriasis/indecisiveness (Factor 4)--and a 57% total variance. This four-factor model demonstrated an acceptable level of model fit, and it fit better than did a three-factor solution from the literature on depressive disorder. Conclusion : This study's results suggest a difference in the construct of self-reported depressive symptoms in anxiety disorders. These findings also support a dimensional approach to studying anxiety and depression. Further studies may benefit from including comorbid depressive disorder and its influence on anxiety disorders.