Gender identity disorders are characterized by strong and persistent cross-gender identification (not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex), as well as a persistent discomfort with one's sex or sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex. There are no well-established or exhaustive explanations for the development of gender identity disorder. Gender identity appears to be established and influenced by psychosocial factors during the first few years of life. However, many authors have argued for biological factors, if not causative, may predispose an individual to a gender identity disorder. Because most gender dysphoric individuals have adamant requests for sex reassignment (many often already taking opposite-sex hormones supplied by other physicians), it is extremely difficult to engage the patients in treatment with anything other than surgical reassignment as the goal. However, because surgery is irreversible, it is important to engage these patients in psychotherapy, even if surgery is indicated. The therapist should be careful to base the goals of therapy on what is desired by the patient. Behavior therapy has been used to modify specific cross-gender behaviors of child with gender identity disorder.
Behavior Therapy ; Biological Factors ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Gender Identity* ; Humans ; Psychology ; Psychotherapy

No abstract available.
Antipsychotic Agents* ; Drug Synergism* ; Humans ; Schizophrenia*

BACKGROUND: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potent mitogenic cytokine. C-met protein, which is known to be the HGF receptor has transmembrane tyrosine kinase activity and is encoded by the c-met oncogene. The HGF/c-met signaling pathway may play various roles in the carcinogenesis of various organs. METHODS: We examined HGF and c-met mRNA expression by utilizing reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction on 40 surgically resected intracranial meningiomas (25 benign, 10 atypical, and 5 anaplastic cases). RESULTS: An HGF overexpression was detected in 28%, 50%, and 80% of the benign, atypical and anaplastic meningiomas, respectively; a high expression of HGF or the coexpression of HGF/c-met was detected in the high grade meningiomas (the atypical and anaplastic cases, p=0.046, p=0.014). An HGF expression was statistically significant in the recurrent meningiomas (p=0.003), and HGF expression was significantly lower than c-met mRNA expression in benign meningiomas (p=0.034). CONCLUSIONS: There was no correlation between histologic subtypes and HGF/c-met expression. Determination of HGF expression can be used as a molecular predictor for recurrence of meningioimas. These results suggest that HGF and c-met expression in meningiomas may be associated with anaplastic progression.
Hepatocyte Growth Factor ; Hepatocytes ; Meningioma ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Oncogenes ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met ; Recurrence ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger

Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders, which is leading to significant clinical distress and impairment of daytime functioning and decreasing quality of life. This article reviews the current clinical treatment options of insomnia. Non-pharmacological treatment including stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive therapy, relaxation training, and education of sleep hygiene should be considered first for treatment of insomnia. Psychological and behavioral interventions tend to have longer-lasting treatment benefits, while drugs show immediate improvement of sleep disturbance. In pharmacotherapy, benzodiazepine receptor agonist, melatonin receptor antagonist, and 'off-label' drugs to treat insomnia are reviewed.
Behavior Therapy ; Cognitive Therapy ; Drug Therapy ; Quality of Life ; Relaxation ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders* ; Sleep Wake Disorders

The incidence and etiology of parasite-associated gastroenteritis during 2004-2006 in Gyeonggi-do (province), South Korea was determined by means of antigen detection ELISA on 6,071 stool specimens collected from 6 general hospitals. At least 1 parasitic agent was detected in 3.4% (208/6,071) of the stool samples. Among these, Giardia lamblia was the most numerous (152 cases; 2.5%), followed by Entamoeba histolytica (25 cases; 0.4%), Cryptosporidium parvum (23 cases; 0.4%), and mixed infections (8 cases; 0.1%). Patients aged 1-5 years had the largest proportion (69.2%; 144/208) of parasite-positive stool specimens. Parasite-mediated gastroenteritis was most common from June to September. The detection rate gradually increased from 2004 to 2006. This study shows that parasite-mediated gastroenteritis may be significant among children in Korea and that parasite infection surveillance should be constantly performed.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Animals ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Data Collection ; Eukaryota/*isolation & purification ; Feces/parasitology ; Gastroenteritis/*epidemiology/parasitology ; Humans ; Infant ; Protozoan Infections/*epidemiology/parasitology ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Seasons ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify influences of stress, anxiety, depression, and personality trait on nausea, vomiting, and retching of breast cancer patients perceiving chemotherapy. METHODS: Breast cancer patients who were admitted to Ewha Womans University Cancer Center for women to receive chemotherapy participated in the study. In addition to sociodemographic and clinical factors, self-reported questionnaires, including Type D personality Scale 14, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Global Assessment of Recent Stress scale were used to evaluate psychological factors of the subjects. For examination of anticipatory and post chemotherapy nausea, vomiting, and retching, the subjects filled out the Rhodes Index of Nausea, Vomiting, and Retching and Visual Analogue Scale. RESULTS: No significant influence of type D personality, anxiety, or depression on nausea, vomiting, and retching was observed. If the patient experienced more severe stress, higher scores for anticipatory and post chemotherapy nausea, vomiting, and retching were recorded. The tendency was retained after adjusting for the cycle number of chemotherapy, the emetic risk of the chemotherapy regimen, type D personality, anxiety, and depression. Specifically, financial problems, unusual happenings, ordinary daily stress, and general stress were significantly related to nausea, vomiting, and retching. CONCLUSION: Assessment of life stress, especially for financial problems, unusual happenings, and ordinary daily stress of patients receiving cancer chemotherapy can be used as an effective way to reduce the risk of nausea, vomiting, and retching related during chemotherapy.
Anxiety* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Depression* ; Drug Therapy* ; Female ; Humans ; Nausea* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Stress, Psychological ; Vomiting* ; Vomiting, Anticipatory

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we identified the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depressed mood in newly diagnosed women breast and thyroid cancer patients. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 1794 women patients who visited the Ewha Womans University Cancer Center for Women. They included 1119 newly diagnosed primary breast cancer patients and 675 newly diagnosed primary thyroid cancer patients. The patients completed the National Cancer Center Psychological Symptom Inventory (NCC-PSI) during their first follow-up visit after surgery, before starting chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The NCC-PSI is composed of the modified distress thermometer (MDT) and the modified impact thermometer (MIT) for insomnia, anxiety, and depressed mood. RESULTS: Anxiety severity was found to be greater in breast cancer patients than in thyroid cancer patients. Significant levels of anxiety, depressed mood and insomnia were present in 28, 24.5, and 20.7% in all the subjects, respectively. Moreover, anxiety symptoms, depressed mood and insomnia interfered with the daily lives of 20, 18.4, and 14.2% of all the subjects, respectively. Dealing with anxiety (18.8%) was found to need the most help, followed by dealing with insomnia (8.9%) and depressed mood (8.7%). CONCLUSIONS: A significant level of distress was found in about 40% of the total subjects. Nearly 30% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients reported significant anxiety symptoms and interferences with daily living caused by anxiety, which most commonly needed special care. Early assessment and management of psychological distress, especially anxiety, in breast and thyroid cancer treatment are very important to establish integrated cancer care.
Anxiety* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Depression ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Radiotherapy ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders* ; Thermometers ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*

OBJECTIVES : Long acting injectable antipsychotic medication have the ability to sustain the drug effect for a long duration, thus enabling advances in the management of those psychiatric patients who have poor compliance or who have difficulty getting the oral form of their antipsychotic medications. Despite their benefits, previous studies have reported that depot antipsychotics have a much lower prescription ratein the treatment of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Psychiatrist's attitude toward depot antipsychotics clearly has an influence on the decision-making process regarding the selection of medications. Until now, there has been no data with respect to psychiatrists' attitudes regarding long-acting injectable antipsychotics in Korea. This study examined these attitudes toward antipsychotic depot medications as well as the factors which could contribute to their choice of depots. METHODS : We questioned 347 psychiatrists, who had been attending a conference, about their attitudes toward depot antipsychotic treatment. RESULTS : The most important factor causing reluctance with respect to prescribing depot treatment (for both classes of antipsychotics) was a presumed sufficient level of compliance with available oral antipsychotic treatments. In addition, typical depots are not considered to be an appropriate treatment option for first-episode patients, and as a result, they are used sparingly. Lastly, atypical longacting injectable drugs are avoided due to their strict criteria of insurance and high treatment costs. CONCLUSION : Aversions to prescribe depot treatment are frequent among psychiatrists and appear to be unrelated to the antipsychotic class. The stated reasons for not choosing depots are generally not supported by the current literature. Further research is required to clarify the advantages using depot treatments.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Compliance ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Insurance ; Korea ; Prescriptions ; Psychiatry ; Psychotic Disorders ; Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVES: Schizophrenia, one of the major mental illnesses, shows abnormal developmental patterns such as delayed developmental milestones, impaired language and motor function, and poor premorbid social adjustment long before the onset of clinical symptoms of illness. In this study, we tried to find out developmental patterns and premorbid adjustment during childhood and adolescence in Schizophrenic patients. METHODS: The subjects were 56 inpatients (26 male patients and 30 female patients) who met the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia by DSM-IV and 52 healthy control subjects (25 male patients and 26 female patients). Interview with subjects and their families and the review of medical records were done to assess sociodemographic factors, timing of developmental milestones, language and motor function of childhood, and timing of sexual maturational events. Obstetrical Complication Scale of Lewis was used to get information on the subjects' prenatal and perinatal history, and Premorbid Social Adjustment Scale (PSAS) to assess premorbid adjustment. RESULTS: 1) There were no significant differences in the rates of obstetrical complications. The deveolpmental milestones during infancy such as sitting, walking, age of first sentence were significantly delayed in the Schizophrenics than in the controls (p<0.05). 2) Disturbances of speech and language development were significantly more common in the schizophrenics than in the controls (p<0.05), but there were no significant differences in the rates of disturbance in motor development. Mean ages of reading and writing were significantly delayed in schizophrenics than in the controls (p<0.05). No significant differences were found between males and females for either language disturbance or motor disturbance in the Schizophrenics. 3) During adolescence, premorbid adjustment was poorer in Schizophrenic patients (p<0.05). The Schizophrenic patients scored significantly worse than the controls on both sociability and schooling domains (p<0.05). There was a trend for correlation between poor premorbid functioning and early age of onset, but it failed to achieve statistical significance (Spearman's coeff =-0.27, p=.07). 4) Male Schizophrenic subjects showed poorer premorbid functioning on schooling domain than female Schizophrenic subjects (p<0.05). No significant difference was recogni ed in timing of sexual maturational events between Schizophrenics and controls. CONCLUSION: In summary, the Schizophrenics were significantly delayed in infantile developmental milestones, impaired in development of language, delayed mean age of reading and writing, and showed poorer premorbid social adjustment than the controls.
Adolescent* ; Age of Onset ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Female ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Language Development ; Male ; Medical Records ; Schizophrenia ; Social Adjustment* ; Walking ; Writing

PURPOSE: The measurement of radiation absorbed dose is useful to predict the response after I-131 labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) therapy and determine therapy dose in patients with unresectable or malignant pheochromocytoma. We estimated the absorbed dose in tumor tissue after high dose I-131 MIBG in a patient with pheochromocytoma using a gamma camera and Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) formula. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 64-year old female patient with pheochromocytoma who had multiple metastases of mediastinum, right kidney and periaortic lymph nodes, received 74 GBq (200 mCi) of I-131 MIBG. We obtained anterior and posterior images at 0.5, 16, 24, 64 and 145 hours after treatment. Two standard sources of 37 and 74 MBq of I-131 were imaged simultaneously. Cummulated I-131 MIBG uptake in tumor tissue was calculated after the correction of background activity, attenuation, system sensitivity and count loss at a high count rate. RESULTS: The calculated absorbed radiation dose was 32-63 Gy/ 74 GBq, which was lower than the known dose for tumor remission (150-200 Gy). Follow-up studies at 1 month showed minimally reduced tumor size on computed tomography, and mildly reduced I-131 MIBG uptake. CONCLUSION: We estimated radiation absorbed dose after therapeutic I-131 MIBG using a gamma camera and MIRD formula, which can be peformed in a clinical nuclear medicine laboratory. Our RESULTS suggest that the measurement of radiation absorbed dose in I-131 MIBG therapy is feasible as a routine clinical practice that can guide further treatment plan. The accuracy of dose measurement and correlation with clinical outcome should be evaluated further.
3-Iodobenzylguanidine ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gamma Cameras ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lymph Nodes ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nuclear Medicine ; Pheochromocytoma