• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.28-32
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• 2009

Background: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is characterized by severe neuropathic pain and disability, which can result in psychological and behavioral dysfunction. The goal of the present study was to evaluate neurocognitive disability, and to assess the relationship between clinical variables and neuropsychological features in CRPS patients. Methods: We investigated the neuropsychological features of 15 CRPS I patients. The neuropsychological tests that we made comprised of a full intelligence quotient, memory quotient, trail-making test A, trail-making test B (TMT-B), and MMPI (Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory). Results: The results showed severe disability in performance on TMT-B. There was no significant correlation between specific cognitive variables and MMPI scales. Conclusions: Decreased performance on TMT-B which shows mental flexibility in the prefrontal lobe exists independently from depressive disorders in CRPS patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.189-195
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of lamotrigine for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children with epilepsy. Methods: Pediatric patients newly diagnosed with epilepsy (n=90 [61 boys and 29 girls]; mean age, $9.1{\pm}3.4years$) were enrolled. All patients were evaluated with the Korean ADHD rating scale (K-ARS)-IV before treatment with lamotrigine and after doses had been administered. The mean interval of ADHD testing was approximately 12.3 months. The initial dosage of lamotrigine was 1 mg/kg/day (maximum 25 mg/day for the first 2 weeks), and increased by 1 mg/kg every 2 weeks until titrated up to 7 mg/kg/day (or maximum 200 mg/day). Results: The mean ADHD test score of the 90 subjects was $17.0{\pm}1.8$ at baseline. It was slightly reduced to $15.6{\pm}1.7$ after lamotrigine monotherapy (P>0.01). Prior to treatment, a total of 31 patients (34.4%) met the diagnostic criteria for ADHD according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision, Of these 31 patients, 27 (87.1%) had significantly improved ADHD scores with lamotrigine monotherapy ($28.0{\pm}1.6$ reduced to $18.1{\pm}2.6$, P<0.001). Among these 27 patients, 25 (92.6%) showed normalized electroencephalogram (EEG) and 26 (96.3%) achieved total freedom from seizures within 12 months of the initiation of lamotrigine monotherapy. Conclusion: The results from our study show that lamotrigine had a positive effect in pediatric epilepsy patients by reducing ADHD symptoms, preventing seizures, and normalizing EEG. However, further research is required to determine whether lamotrigine is efficacious against ADHD symptoms independent of its effects on epileptic seizures.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.510-517
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• 2003

Studies have shown that both the psychomotor stimulant effects and rewarding properties of addictive drugs, including morphine, are sensitized by repeated drug administration and it is suggested that both of these effects are mediated by the same or closely overlapping dopamine systems. Specifically, the mesolimbic dopamine system has been implicated in the reinforcing and sensitizing properties of morphine. In oriental medicine, Shenmen (HT7) point on the heart channel has been used to treat mental and psychosomatic disorders. This study was designed to investigate the effect of acupuncture on acute and repeated morphine-induced changes in extracellular dopamine levels using in vivo microdialysis and morphine-induced behavioral changes. In the morphine sensitization experiment, male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated twice a day for three days with increasing doses of morphine (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, s.c.) or with saline. After 15 days of withdrawal, rats were challenged with morphine hydrochloride (5 mg/kg, s.c.). Acupuncture was applied at bilateral Shenmen (HT7) points for 1 min after the morphine challenge. In the acute experiment, rats also received acupuncture for 1 min after an injection of morphine hydrochloride (5 mg/kg, s.c.). Results showed that acupuncture at the specific acupoint HT7, but not at control points (tail) significantly decreased both dopamine release and behavior induced by a systemic morphine challenge or a single sc morphine injection in the acute animals. These results suggest that reduction in sensitization may be one mechanism whereby acupuncture alleviates morphine craving in addicts.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.11-20
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• 2020

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of Nordic walking on depression and the physical function of elderly patients with a high risk of depression. METHODS: This study was a blinded randomized allocation study; 32 elderly were assigned to a Nordic walking group (n = 17), consisting of 60 min Nordic walking (including warming up 5 min, warming down 5 min, and Nordic walking 50 min) two days per week for 12 weeks and general leisure group (n = 15), consisting of 60 min leisure program community center. The pre and post 12-week program, depression test, muscle strength (including grip test, and 30sec sit to stand), and balance (including Functional Reach test, and One Leg Standing test) were measured. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare within the group, and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare between the groups. RESULTS: After 12 weeks, only the Nordic walking group showed significant improvement in depression, muscle strength, and balance (p < .05). In the general leisure group, however, the left grip strength and Functional Reach Test (FRT) showed a significant decrease. The Nordic walking program was better than the general leisure group, and a significant difference was observed in depression, muscle strength, and balance between the two groups (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Nordic walking was effective for the elderly with a high risk of depression. Therefore, Nordic walking may be an option for preventing elderly mental disorders and functional improvement.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.53-59
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• 2019

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the elastic-band exercise program for elderly who over 65 years old in terms of depression and physical self efficacy. We aim to suggest interventions with an elastic-band exercise program for elderly. Methods : The study subjects selected were females or males 65 years old or more who could walk without assistance and could talk about daily living without mental or physical disorders. A total of eight subjects understood the purpose of this study and agreed to participate. Before and after the exercise program, the subjects were monitored for changes in their physical self-efficacy and depression. To measure the physical self-efficacy, we used a perceived physical ability scale and physical self-presentation confidence scale (Cronbach α =0.942). To measure depression, we used the geriatric depression scale short form (Korea version, Cronbach α =0.969). The data obtained from each measure were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test to determine changes from before and after the exercise program. The program consisted of three parts (warm-up, main exercise and cool-down) and included the upper extremities, the lower extremities and trunk exercises with an elastic band (yellow and red). The program lasted for 15 weeks, once a week, with each session lasting for 60 minutes. Results : After 15 weeks of the elastic-band exercise program, there was a significant decrease on the depression scale (p<0.05) and significant improvements on the physical self-efficacy scale (p<0.05). Conclusion : Based upon our results, we demonstrated that the exercise program using the elastic band was effective in improving the depression and physical self-efficacy of the elderly.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.138-146
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• 2015

Purpose: If early diagnosis is not made, patients with metabolic disorders as homocystinemia rapidly progress to physical defect or mental retardation resulted in storage of the toxic material into the brain. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an analytical method for a rapid screening and/or correct confirmation diagnosis. Methods: The standard solution of sulfur amino acids spiked plasma was subjected to protein precipitation with methanol, and then consecutively derivatized with trimethylsilyl (TMS) and trifluoroacyl (TFA) and determined by GC-MS. The formation of TMS derivative of the hydroxyl and TFA derivative of amino functional group was performed by BSTFA and MBTFA, respectively. Selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode was used for quantification with selected specific ions. Results: A calibration curve on standard spiked pooled plasma showed a linear relationship with correlation coefficient of 0.9936-0.9992 for all compounds over the range of 0.1-300 ng. The precision and accuracy were within S.D. of 1-15% and RSD of 1-15% for intra-day assay at 2 ng/mL, 15 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL. LOD and LOQ was 0.4 ng/mL and 4 ng/mL respectively. Conclusion: A rapid analytical method was developed to quantify sulfur amino acids and methyl malonic acid, after two-step derivatization procedure with good sensitivity and specificity on human plasma. Advantages of a new method are simplicity and rapidity. The method could be useful for routine analysis, diagnosis of homocysteinemia.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.29-37
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• 2015

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between psychosocial factors and the severity of musculoskeletal pain in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: A total of 60 subjects were recruited from among the veterans with musculoskeletal pain at D Veterans Hospital. PTSD was evaluated by using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; severity of pain was measured by using the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ); depression and anxiety were measured by using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revision; and the quality of sleep was measured by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. All data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 software for Windows. RESULTS: The averages cores of pain intensity ($7.48{\pm}1.67$), SF-MPQ-sensory ($13.84{\pm}7.52$), SF-MPQ-affective ($4.41{\pm}3.79$), depression ($19.30{\pm}11.37$), anxiety ($13.39{\pm}7.99$), and quality of sleep ($10.05{\pm}5.89$) were obtained in veterans with PTSD. SF-MPQ-sensory measures sleep quality (r=0.346, p<0.01), SF-MPQ-affective measures depression (r=0.318, p<0.01) and anxiety (r=0.404, p<0.01), and these showed a statistically significant positive correlation in veterans with PTSD. Pain levels were observed to be higher in veterans with PTSD. Moreover, in these subjects, physical pain had a significant influence on the anxiety variable among the psychosocial factors. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that musculoskeletal pain provides meaningful information about depression, anxiety, and sleep disorder in veterans with PTSD. Our data suggest that musculoskeletal pain may need to be addressed as part of the health management process of veterans.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2020

Objective : The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship between job stress and depressive disorder among emotional laborers in a city. Methods : A total of 677 emotional laborers living in Jeonju-city participated in this study. The participants completed survey questions regarding demographic characteristics, job stress (using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-24, KOSS-24), and depression (the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, PHQ-9). Logistic regression was performed to estimate the association between job stress and depression. Results : Our results indicated that 34.9% of the participants had a high risk of total job stress and 21.7% of participants had depression. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, female sex (OR=1.66, 95% CI=1.01-2.72) and total job stress (OR=3.84, 95% CI=2.57-5.75) were significantly associated with depression after adjusting for confounding factors. Among the subscales of job stress, job demand (OR=3.06, 95% CI=1.99-4.72) and occupational climate (OR=1.88, 95% CI=1.19-2.97) were significantly associated with depression. But insufficient job control, interpersonal conflict, job insecurity, the organizational system and lack of rewards were not. Conclusion : Among the emotional laborers, job stress, particularly job demand and occupational climate, were major contributing factors associated with depression. Early screening and preventive strategies focusing on job stress could reduce the impact of depression in emotional laborers.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.507-517
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• 2015

The bark of Magnolia officinalis has been used in traditional oriental medicine to treat a variety of mental disorders including anxiety and depression. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of M. officinalis ethanol extract on stress-induced alterations in learning and cognitive function using a passive avoidance test (PAT) and also on anxiety-related behavior using the elevated plus-maze test (EPM) in female rats . The degree of Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the region of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the locus coeruleus (LC) was measured using an immunohistochemical method. Corticosterone concentrations in serum were also measured. The ethanol extract from Magnolia officinalis was orally administered to female rats 30 minutes before evaluating their immobilization stress and anxiety-related behavior using an elevated plus-maze test and a passive avoidance test. Time spent in the open arms of the EPM increased in the M. officinalis-treated group compared with that of the saline-treated control group. In the passive avoidance test, the memory and cognitive function improved in the M. officinalis extract-treated group. M. officinalis extracts reduced elevated corticosterone concentrations in serum. Also, stress-induced TH increases were suppressed in the M. officinalis extract-treated group in the LC and the VTA region. These results suggest that M. officinalis might prove to be an effective anxiolytic anti-stress agent.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.54-64
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of simulation in nursing education based on caring for elderly cognition disorder patients. The education consisted of a caring program for patients that included a process of assessment of a patient's mental status, diagnosis of the patient's health condition, and intervention to address the problems by using therapeutic communication. Methods: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. A total of 69 subjects (undergraduate students) participated in the education and they were assigned to two groups: the experimental group (n=32) and the control group (n=37). Data-gathering structured questionnaires that included communication competence, academic self-efficacy, and attitudes about the elderly. The data were collected from October 2013 to December 2013, and statistical analyses were conducted with-test and t-test using the SPSS 21.0 program. Results: With respect to education, there was significant improvement in communication competence in the experiment group (t=2.41, p=.022) compared with in the control group (t=.69, p=.494). However, there was no statistically significant difference in academic self-efficacy and attitude about the elderly. Conclusion: Simulation-based education should continue to be developed further for better elderly-patient care. Integrated education in particular using a high-fidelity simulator will contribute to improvements in nursing competence in this area.