Herpes zoster was associated with an increased risk of dementia, independent of potential confounding factors. Antiviral treatment might be protective in preventing dementia in patients with herpes zoster.

BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Among the survivors, depression is one of the most common psychiatric comorbidities. This paper reports the point prevalence of major depressive disorder among breast cancer patients and the association between family support and major depressive disorder.MethodsClinical data were collected from a breast cancer clinic of a general hospital in central Taiwan. Participants included 300 patients who were older than 18 years and diagnosed with breast cancer. Among these individuals, we used Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (a structural diagnostic tool for psychiatric disorders) to ascertain if they had major depressive disorder. We also used the Family Adaptability, Partnership, Growth, Affection, and Resolve score to assess the family support.ResultsThe point prevalence of major depressive disorder among breast cancer patients was 8.33%, and this was positively associated with insomnia, psychiatric family history, pain severity, and radiotherapy and negatively associated with menopause, cancer duration, hormone therapy, and family support. Family support (adjusted odds ratio =0.87, 95% CI: 0.78–0.98) was found to be an associated factor for major depressive disorder in breast cancer patients after controlling for potential risk factors.ConclusionMajor depressive disorder is a common comorbidity among breast cancer patients. Family support is an important associated factor for these patients. Health care professionals should evaluate mood problems and family support while treating these patients.

Key Points Question Is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) associated with higher early mortality risk among patients in Taiwan? Findings In this Taiwan nationwide population-based cohort study, there were 275 980 patients with ADHD and 1 931 860 matched controls. After adjustment for potential confounders, patients with ADHD had significantly elevated early mortality risk for suicide, homicide, and unintentional injuries compared with the non-ADHD group. Meaning These findings suggest that ADHD may be associated with excess mortality from injury causes.

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Children with multiple or ≥3 hr general anesthesia exposures before age 3 years have an increased likelihood of a later ADHD diagnosis.

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BackgroundThe association between smoking and suicide is still controversial, particular for early life cigarette smoking exposure. Few studies have investigated this association in adolescents using population-based cohorts, and the relationship with second hand smoking (SHS) exposure has not been addressed.Methods and FindingsIn this study, we followed a large population-based sample of younger people to investigate the association between smoking, SHS exposure and suicide mortality. Between October 1995 and June 1996, 162,682 junior high school students ages 11 to 16 years old living in a geographic catchment area in Taiwan were enrolled and then followed till December 2007 (1,948,432 person-years) through linkage to the National Death Certification System. Participants who were currently smoking at baseline had a greater than six-fold higher suicide mortality than those who did not smoke (29.5 vs. 4.8 per 100,000 person-years, p<0.001) as well as higher natural mortality (33.7 vs. 10.3 per 100,000 person-years, p<0.001). After controlling for gender, age, parental education, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and alcohol consumption, the adjusted hazard ratios for suicide were 3.69 (95% CI 1.85-7.39) in current smokers, and 1.47 (95% CI 0.94-2.30) and 2.83 (95% CI 1.54-5.20) respectively in adolescents exposed to SHS of 1-20 cigarettes and >20 cigarettes/per day. The estimated depression-adjusted odds ratio did not change substantially. The population attributable fractions for suicide associated with smoking and heavy SHS exposure (>20 cigarettes/per day) were 9.6% and 10.6%, respectively.ConclusionsThis study showed evidence of excess suicide mortality among young adults exposed to active or passive early life cigarette smoking.