• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, August 23, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Like kids in a candy store 

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 22, 2023
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Kyoto, Japan – A non-prescription drug abuse crisis in Japan seems only one overdose away. The demand for a particular anti-cough drug has been rising, along with the social impact of its abuse due to its psychosomatic effects. 

Abuse over the counter

Credit: KyotoU/Jake Tobiyama

Kyoto, Japan – A non-prescription drug abuse crisis in Japan seems only one overdose away. The demand for a particular anti-cough drug has been rising, along with the social impact of its abuse due to its psychosomatic effects. 

The ease of obtaining information online about how to acquire over-the-counter medications or OTCs for achieving overdose, however, does not appear to be the real problem.

Now, a study by a team of researchers at Kyoto University suggests that reliable information about OTC abuse needs to be readily available and effectively disseminated. 

“We focused on potential OTC abusers at risk of addiction though they did not show sufficient symptoms to justify or necessitate visits to medical institutions or support facilities,” says corresponding author Azusa Kariya of KyotoU’s Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health.

Users of Japan’s largest consumer-generated media — or CGM — service, Yahoo! Chiebukuro, post their questions and responses about OTCs primarily to learn more about overdosing, such as access to the drugs, their efficacy and effects, and health risks. 

Abuse results from two causes: one is from seeking symptomatic relief from some physical pain and overdosing to the point of addiction. The other occurs when people intentionally overdose to cause either self-harm or psychosomatic changes. 

Kariya’s team also found that OTC abusers and potential abusers sought advice on quitting their drug addiction on the Yahoo! community website. Most poignantly, the team discovered that OTC overdosers resist consulting others in person, making the CGM a convenient source of anonymously obtained information.

“Our study aims to make sense of our CGM data to identify possible overdosers. We could then be better positioned to cooperate with health professionals and seek support from pharmacies to reduce OTC abuse,” adds Kariya.

Kariya’s team searched the names of commonly abused OTCs, tracked the keywords overdose and OD, and tallied the number of relevant questions posted on the Yahoo! site. 

The number of OD-related queries containing the keyword BRON — an antitussive and expectorant — has increased sharply, pointing to the significant impact of community-based websites. 

Furthermore, the team extracted 467 items of question data that met the eligibility criteria from 528 items of BRON-tagged text data, generating 26 codes and six categories. Three main themes resulted: expectations for overdose, anxieties about overdose, and troubles in quitting overdose.

“The current crisis that mental health professionals are confronting is just the tip of the iceberg. We must dive below to see the scale of abuse hidden from view,” reflects Kariya. 

###

The paper “Internet-Based Inquiries From Users With the Intention to Overdose With Over-the-Counter” appeared on 23 November 2023 in JMIR Formative Research, with doi: 10.2196/45021   

About Kyoto University
Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia’s premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at undergraduate and graduate levels complements several research centers, facilities, and offices around Japan and the world. For more information, please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en



Journal

JMIR Formative Research

DOI

10.2196/45021

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Internet-Based Inquiries From Users With the Intention to Overdose With Over-the-Counter

Article Publication Date

23-Nov-2023

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Prenatal Exposure to Urban Heat Dome Linked to Behavioral Issues in Children

Prenatal Exposure to Urban Heat Dome Linked to Behavioral Issues in Children

August 23, 2025
blank

Harnessing the Power of the Non-Coding Genome to Advance Precision Medicine

August 23, 2025

WTAP Drives DNA Repair via m6A-FOXM1 in Liver Cancer

August 22, 2025

Unraveling SOX2: Its Crucial Role in Prostate Cancer Progression and Therapy Resistance

August 22, 2025

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    141 shares
    Share 56 Tweet 35
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    114 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    81 shares
    Share 32 Tweet 20
  • Modified DASH Diet Reduces Blood Sugar Levels in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes, Clinical Trial Finds

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Weather’s Impact on Anopheles Mosquito Populations in Lagos

Ghost Spider’s Maternal Care vs. New Fly Species

DWI-Guided vs. MRI-Based IMRT in Head & Neck

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.