Chapter 151: Ministry of Food And Drug Safety (6)

Come in.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Song Ji-Hyun opened the door for Young-Joon.

Sorry for coming on such short notice.

Young-Joon, who came in, sat on the sofa in the living room.

Would you like something to drink? Song Ji-Hyun asked.

Sure. Thank you.

You like coffee, right, Doctor Ryu?

Song Ji-Hyun brewed a cup of coffee with the coffee machine in the kitchen. She put some ice in a cup, poured the coffee inside, and gave it to Young-Joon.

I noticed you only drink iced americanos when we have a meeting.

What can I say? Im addicted to caffeine.

Young-Joon took the coffee and took a few sips.

What happened to your cheek? Young-Joon asked when he saw Song Ji-Hyuns face up close. Her right cheek was a little red.

He swatted me away when I was trying to give him medicine and hit me in the face.

A little embarrassed, Song Ji-Hyun caressed her cheek.

Oh

Its okay. Its not like it happens often. I made a mistake.

Where is your brother right now? Young-Joon asked.

Hes in his room. Hes probably sleeping.

I see.

Whats this? Song Ji-Hyun asked after seeing a piece of crumpled paper in his right hand.

Oh, this. Its nothing.

Young-Joon slipped it in his pocket, but she saw what was written on it as he put it in.

Is it the survey that was on the elevator? she asked.

Yes.

...

After some thought, Song Ji-Hyun said, To be honest, my brother isnt in good condition. I lied when I said that we caught the symptoms early. Even if he was better, most people react like that survey.

Young-Joon wasnt very surprised.

Song Ji-Hyun said, They just want us to move out of this apartment because its unsafe and the price is going down. Theyre pressuring us.

...

Thats why I said I would take care of him for a bit because it seemed like they were so tired of everything.

I see. But your parents are lucky to have you.

Song Ji-Hyun smiled bitterly.

I wouldnt have even left the house if I was such a good daughter.

...

Its been a while since Ive been here, and the atmosphere has gotten much more hostile and blatant. Didnt the guard say something when you said you were coming here?

He told me to be careful and not get hurt.

Haha, Song Ji-Hyun.

It might sound funny for me to say this with a bruised cheek, but Jong-Ho sometimes harms himself, but hes not the kind of person who would hurt someone, she said. But I understand the other residents being scared.

Really?

Because the media reports that someone with schizophrenia has murdered someone.

...

Song Ji-Hyun began to vent like she had been keeping a lot in.

I think its becoming especially worse lately. Things like how they committed arson in an apartment, or they stabbed someone in a bathroom in a bar, stuff like that, she said. Its framed as if you become very likely to commit a crime if you have schizophrenia. But Doctor Ryu, the prevalence of schizophrenia is one percent. If there are fifty million people in this county, five hundred thousand of them have schizophrenia.

Thats right.

If you think about that number and look at the crime rate, its actually lower than the general population. Its kind of unfair to the patients and their families.

Most of those people are taking medication and staying in treatment. They are maintaining their cognitive abilities nor are they committing violence.

Exactly, and even among the severely ill patients who have gone off their treatment and relapsed, there really arent that many who attack others because most of those people are extremely anxious and scared to even leave the house.

...

But once an accident happens, patients with schizophrenia will hear voices and commit crimes like assault. I think thats why it appears on the news more and why people are more scared of schizophrenia. So I am sad that people in our apartment feel that way, but I also understand, Song Ji-Hyun said.

I dont want to blame the citizens either. But adding onto what you said, I think theres a problem with the countrys management system, too.

Right! Song Ji-Hyun shouted like she was waiting for him to say that. You also know. The hospital admittance criteria has become a lot more picky since 2017. Now, its become more difficult to admit severely ill patients. Even if they are in a condition that is obviously dangerous, they cant be admitted unless theres a clear possibility of self-harm or harming others.

Really?

Yes. There was a lot of pushback from the psychiatry field when they changed the admission criteria in the statue, but it just went through without any real feedback.

...

And in the U.S., if a citizen calls the police about a patient with schizophrenia, the police can take them to a psychiatric emergency center if they see the patient and think they could be a danger to the public, right?

A psychiatric emergency center?

Yes. Admittance isnt decided there, but the doctors observe them for a period of time, and then they can admit them if they have to. The police also have the authority to take you there. Not in Korea, the police dont have that power, and theres no such thing as a psychiatric emergency center. In Korea, its just a private medical institution that runs inpatient units.

...

Its true that the current system isnt one that can handle a serious disease that affects half a million patients.

The conversation paused for a minute. Young-Joon drank his coffee and Song Ji-Hyun fiddled with her phone.

Doctor Ryu, you said that you came to see my brother today, right?

Thats right.

...

Song Ji-Hyun thought for a moment. Young-Joon was someone who had taken down the most dreaded diseases known to humanity, even Alzheimers, which seemed impossible to conquer. He regenerated and destroyed brain cells and restored cognitive abilities and memory. By comparison, schizophrenia was probably easier to conquer as schizophrenia usually had milder less brain damage. The problem was that they didnt really know how schizophrenia worked, but Song Ji-Hyun had hope because it was Young-Joon.

The fact that you came all the way here Is it what I think it is? Song Ji-Hyun asked cautiously.

I am developing a schizophrenia treatment.

Is it a substitute for dopamine inhibitors?

No, its a cure.

Oh Song Ji-Hyun exclaimed.

It was just as she expected.

I didnt think it would be anything similar to existing drugs if you were making it.

Its still in the early stages of development, so dont get your hopes up, Young-Joon said.

Can you tell me a little bit about the technology? Song Ji-Hyun asked.

Um

Young-Joon scratched his head.

Um Dont be surprised.

Then, Young-Joon explained the radical treatment that Rosaline made.

What?

Song Ji-Hyun was still shocked even though Young-Joon told her to not be.

Youre going to put a hundred genes in the mitochondria and deliver that to the brain cell?

Song Ji-Hyun froze.

Because thats the only way to put in hundreds of genes, Young-Joon replied.

Well That is true, but

Young-Joon understood why she was flustered.

Its definitely something to be baffled about.

But psychiatric treatment requires both drug and psychological treatment. The doctors will know what to do once it gets approved and commercialized. But right now, I need some research data about psychological factors, Young-Joon said. What Im saying is that I need to know what psychological factors caused schizophrenia in real patients to factor that into developing my treatment.

Song Ji-Hyun bit her lower lip.

You want to know what happened when my brother was a student?

Yes. Tell me anything you think would be relevant.

* * *

Rosaline popped out of Young-Joons body as soon as he entered Song Ji-Hyuns house. She went to the small room right away, and she had been watching Song Jong-Ho even since. This was Young-Joons order.

The actual psychological causes might be different than what Doctor Song thinks. Ill talk to her, and in the meantime, could you go into his brain and find the memory that caused schizophrenia?

This wasnt very difficult for Rosaline. She went into Song Jong-Hos nose. She traveled through the nasal mucosa and into the bloodstream. After traveling in the bloodstream for a moment, she made a little cut in the blood vessel and went into his brain. It was the first time she was entering a human brain that wasnt Young-Joons as a cell.

Bzzz.

Dopamine swarmed to Rosalines cell membrane.

How bothersome.

Rosaline swatted them away and moved to the midbrain.

There should be a neuron in the limbic system that connects to the hippocampus or the amygdala.

She slowly moved along the dopamine pathway like she was taking a walk. There were millions of neurons intertwined in a complex web. The infinite combinations of electrical excitations created here was what made the human brain a small universe of its own. No computer could calculate the number of variables, but everything was clear to Rosaline.

Found it.

Rosaline found a small neuron among the bundles of cranial nerves. It led to the amygdala and the hippocampus.

It reminds me of when I fought with Ryu Young-Joons trauma.

This was a much easier opponent compared to that. Rosaline searched through the hippocampus cells and the amygdala. She observed Song Jong-Hos old memories and his emotions related to his trauma.

...

It was like pulling out a bunch of archaic books from an old library and going through them one by one.

Maybe Ill use a little bit more fitness.

Rosaline burned her fitness a little faster to increase her efficiency. When she was analyzing the signals from twenty thousand seven hundred cells

Kaboom!

A huge explosion shook everything. The cell membranes became damp, and a lot of electricity was flowing.

What happened?

Rosaline immediately assessed the situation. She thought there had been an accident, but it was nothing; Song Jong-Ho had just woken up and sat up. However, it was accompanied with a flood of dopamine.

The drug that Song Jong-Ho took inhibits dopamine receptors, Rosaline said as she looked up at the dopamine pathway in the limbic midbrain. As the drug just blocked dopamine receptors, the amount of dopamine did not change. If there were the same number of nuts and bolts, the bolts would become useless if all the nuts broke, but the bolts didnt just disappear. That was why there was so much dopamine everywhere.

Ugh I should tell him to not make me work for a while after this.

With a frown, Rosaline cleared away the dopamine that was wandering near her cell membrane.

Song Jong-Ho came out into the living room. Usually, he fell in and out of consciousness. Even with the same drug, he would sometimes be lucid, and other times he wouldnt be. When he wasnt lucid, he would wake up shaking in the corner of a room. When he wasnt lucid, he would be very irritable and spew nonsense to other people. RIght now, the medication was working well, and he was pretty calm.

Who are you? Song Jong-Ho asked.

Even though he was lucid, he still slurred his words. Young-Joon and Song Ji-Hyun were sitting in the living room with a puzzled look on their faces.

Your guest? Song Jong-Ho asked Song Ji-Hyun.

Im Ryu Young-Joon.

... Oh? Nice to meet you. But what is this? Maybe the medication hasnt kicked in yet. Im still seeing things.

Song Jong-Ho waved his hand in front of his eyes while rubbing his temples.

There are words. Hey, what did I take today? Song Jong-Ho asked Song Ji-Hyun.

Words? she replied.

Uh Rosaline? Level

Young-Joon flinched.

Whoosh!

Rosaline popped out of Song Jong-Hos mouth.

Phew. That was tough.

Stretching her neck, Rosaline walked over to Rosaline.

Hey, its a little kid now! A little girl appeared! Song Jong-Ho said in surprise.

Rosaline quickly turned and glanced at Song Jong-Ho.

Snap!

Rosaline snapped her fingers. Then, she went back into Young-Joons body.

Huh

Song Jong-Ho couldnt see anything anymore.

What happened?

Young-Joon asked.

There was a sudden burst of dopamine when my cell was in the patients brain. It was a temporary effect of being swept up by that.

... I didnt know that could happen. Ill have to watch out for that.

Luckily, he has schizophrenia, so he probably sees a lot of hallucinations. Just pretend that you dont know anything.

Song Jong-Ho touched his hair like he was anxious.

Are you still having hallucinations? Song Ji-Hyun asked.

No. I think the medication is kicking in now. Im fine.