Panic disorder (PD) is a mental disorder with recurrent panic attacks that occur spontaneously and are not associated to any particular object or situation. There is no consensus on what causes PD. However, it is recognized that PD is influenced by environmental factors, as well as genetic factors. Despite a significant hereditary component, genetic studies have only been modestly successful in identifying genes of importance for the development of PD. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide scan using microsatellite markers and PD patients and control individuals from the isolated population of the Faroe Islands. Subsequently, we conducted a fine mapping, which revealed the amiloride-sensitive cation channel 1 (ACCN1) located on chromosome 17q11.2-q12 as a potential candidate gene for PD. The further analyses of the ACCN1 gene using singlenucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed significant association with PD in an extended Faroese case-control sample. However, analyses of a larger independent Danish case-control sample yielded no substantial significant association. This suggests that the possible risk alleles associated in the isolated population are not those involved in the development of PD in a larger outbred population.

Background:Dementia has become an important public health, economic, and social issue. Knowledge about prevalence, incidence, and trends of dementia in a country is of crucial importance. However, no studies of incidence or prevalence of dementia have been undertaken in the Faroe Islands.Objectives:The aim was to estimate the overall and trend in incidence and prevalence of dementia among individuals ≥60 years in the Faroe Islands from 2010-2017.Methods:Population-based register study where all individuals ≥60 years with a dementia diagnosis from January 2010 to December 2017 were identified. The overall crude and age-and-sex-specific incidence and prevalence was assessed.Results:The overall crude incidence among individuals ≥60 years from 2010 to 2017 was 5.1 per 1000 individuals and the prevalence 22.5 per 1000 individuals. The age-and sex-standardized annual incidence of dementia fluctuated between 4.8 and 6.7 per 1000, with no clear secular trend while the age-and sex-standardized prevalence increased steadily from 14.5 in 2010 to 30.8 per 1000 individuals in 2017.Conclusion:The age-standardized incidence or prevalence estimates in the Faroes seem to be lower than in other countries. The incidence was relatively stable in the period while the prevalence of dementia simultaneously increased.

The greatest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele [1]. During the last decade, more than 40 additional AD-associated risk variants have been identified, mostly through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) [2-6]. Although these disease-associated alleles/loci confer marginal risk, they have illuminated biological mechanisms underlying disease. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) proxy the genetic liability of an individual to disease and are based on the weighted sum of genome-wide

Historical accounts emphasize a high rate of mental morbidity in the Faroe Islands compared with Denmark. As prerequisites for a comparative investigation are now present, we have compared a 10-year period of first admission rates in both areas. We found a lower rate for the Faroes generally, in particular for women, for the age group 30-64, and also for the majority of diagnostic groups. The group manic-depressive psychosis come closest to Danish conditions, followed by reactive psychosis and alcohol and drug abuse. The greatest difference was found for the groups personal disorders, neuroses, and schizophrenia.

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