Many disorders in neuropsychiatric field demonstrate variable motor disturbances as their clinical feature or in their courses of illness and also due to psychopharmacological treatment. Although association of such motor disturbances with the pathophysiological aspect of various neuropsychiatric illness are still lacking, some form of motor disturbance offer a window though which pathophysiologic mechanism of such illness can be viewed. Cognitive control of motor functions are briefly reviewed in this article and the importance and method of motor function assessment in major neuropsychiatric disorders are also discussed. Motor dysfunction of major neuropsychiatric illness such as schizophrenia and mood disorders may offer a chance of a deeper understanding on the pathophysiologic aspect of their clinical presentation.
Mood Disorders ; Schizophrenia*

Biochemical markers of bone turnover has received increasing attention over the past few years, because of the need for sensitive and specific tool in the clinical investigation of osteoporosis. Bone markers should be unique to bone, reflect changes of bone loss, and should be correlated with radiocalcium kinetics, histomorphometry, or changes in bone mass. The markers also should be useful in monitoring treatment efficacy. Although no bone marker has been established to meet all these criteria, currently osteocalcin and pyridinium crosslinks are the most efficient markers to assess the level of bone turnover in the menopausal and senile osteoporosis. Recently, N-terminal telopeptide (NTX), C-terminal telopeptide (CTX) and bone specific alkaline phosphatase are considered as new valid markers of bone turnover. Recent data suggest that CTX and free deoxypyridinoline could predict the subsequent risk of hip fracture of elderly women. Treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen, calcitonin and bisphosphonates demonstrated rapid decrease of the levels of bone markers that correlated with the long-term increase of bone mass. Factors such as circadian rhythms, diet, age, sex, bone mass and renal function affect the RESULTS of biochemical markers and should be appropriately adjusted whenever possible. Each biochemical markers of bone turnover may have its own specific advantages and limitations. Recent advances in research will provide more sensitive and specific assays.
Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Biomarkers* ; Calcitonin ; Circadian Rhythm ; Diet ; Diphosphonates ; Estrogens ; Female ; Hip ; Humans ; Kinetics ; Osteocalcin ; Osteoporosis ; Treatment Outcome

No abstract available.
Environmental Monitoring*

No abstract available.
Pregnancy*

No abstract available.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD) is characterized by recurrent obsessions or compulsions causing marked distress. The lifetime prevalence of OCD in general population is estimated about 2~3%. OCD can usually be distinguished from psychosis by the facts that the patients recognize the irrational nature of the symptoms. OCD is also different from obsessive-compulsive personality in that the patients suffer from obsessions and compulsions which accompany marked distress. The etiology of OCD is not know yet. However, numerous studies suggest that OCD may be associated with several psychological and neurobiological factors such as functional abnormalities of cortico-striatal circuit and serotonin. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRI) are the first-line drugs for the treatmemt of OCD. Approximately 50~80% of OCD patients improved with these anti-obsessional drugs with average reduction in symptoms between 30~70%. Benefits may not appear for 2 or more weeks. Continuing a medication for more than 10 weeks is required to determine the anti-obsessional efficacy. Maintenance treatment is usually required for more than several months. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also proved to be effective, particularly for patients with prominent compulsions. Therefore, it is a logical choice to combine pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. For extreme cases electroconvulsive therapy(ECT) or stereotaxic neurosurgery may be considered. However, at present, neurosurgery is recommended only for a few patients who remained severely disabled even after years of sufficient treatments.
Compulsive Personality Disorder ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Logic ; Neurosurgery ; Obsessive Behavior ; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* ; Prevalence ; Psychotic Disorders ; Serotonin

No abstract available.
Pre-Eclampsia*

PURPOSE: The goals of this research are to find out factors influencing the duration of work-related disability and to present implications for policies to prevent delayed recovery. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 238 workers who had been proved to be industrial disaster victims for occupational low back pain between January 1 2000 and December 31 2003. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the proportion of duration of disability associated with low back pain, and Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to identify factors predicting it. The model distinguished main symptom variables affecting acute(< or =90 days) and chronic phase of disability (>90 days). RESULT: Fifty percent of the workers had not recovered in 408 days. The results of Cox regression show that delayed duration of disability was predicted by diagnosis, pain radiation (in chronic phase), sex, the size and labor union of the workplace, scheduled rest, compensation from the company, and operation. CONCLUSION: Duration of disability associated with compensated low back pain is influenced not only by factors related to the company and compensation system but also by individual factors. Thus, future efforts to reduce duration of disability may need to take into account all these factors.
Compensation and Redress ; Diagnosis ; Disaster Victims ; Labor Unions ; Low Back Pain* ; Survival Analysis*

No abstract available.
Blood Transfusion* ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Amniotic Fluid* ; Embolism, Amniotic Fluid* ; Female ; Pregnancy