Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have more cognitive impairments. However, the etiologies are not fully clear. Plasma homocysteine levels and vascular burden rise in CKD; meanwhile, high homocysteine levels and vascular factors are known risk factors of dementia in non-CKD patients. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between homocysteine, vascular burden and cognitive impairment in CKD and to see if the effect of elevated homocysteine on cognitive impairment mediated by vascular factor.

146 patients with CKD and 69 normal comparisons were recruited. Cognitive function was evaluated by comprehensive neuropsychological tests assessing processing speed, executive function, language, visuospatial function, memory, and attention domains. Vascular burden was assessed by Framinghan cardiovascular risk scale (FCRS) which indicates risk of atherosclerotic diseases including stroke.

In controlled analysis, patients with CKD had lower scores in all cognitive domains, and had higher homocysteine levels (18.5±6.4 vs. 9.8±2.9, p< 0.0001) and FCRS(17.0±4.7 vs. 14.0±4.7, p< 0.0001). Among patients with CKD, higher homocysteine levels (p=0.026) were associated with lower score on digit symbol task which is related to processing speed and executive function with controlling for age, sex, education and stage of CKD. The association persisted (p=0.047) after controlling for vascular risks.

Patients with CKD had extensive cognitive impairments. Elevated homocysteine levels may be an risk factor, which is independent of vascular burden, of cognitive impairment on processing speed and executive function. Further studies to investigate if normalization of homocysteine can improve cognitive function will be suggested.

Apathy is a condition characterized by a lack of motivation that manifests in emotional, behavioral, and cognitive domains. Although previous studies have indicated that apathy is associated with frontal lesions, few studies have focused on the different subdomains of apathy, and no in vivo human biochemical data have been obtained to examine the neurochemical changes related to apathy in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, we investigated the frontal neurochemical alterations related to apathy among patients with AD using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS).

Apathy was assessed through the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES). 1H MRS was performed to measure neurochemical metabolite levels in the anterior cingulate region and right orbitofrontal region. Associations between neurochemical metabolites and the total score and subscores of each domain of the AES were analyzed.

Altogether, 36 patients completed the study. Patients with lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratios (NAA/Cr) in the anterior cingulate region demonstrated higher total apathy scores (β = −0.56, p = 0.003) with adjustments for age, gender, educational level, dementia severity, and depression severity. In a further analysis, a lower NAA/Cr in the anterior cingulate region was associated with all subdomains of apathy, including cognition (β = −0.43, p = 0.028), behavior (β = −0.55, p = 0.002), and emotion (β = −0.50, p = 0.005). No statistically significant associations were discovered in the right orbitofrontal region.

Our results suggest that apathy, in each of its cognitive, behavioral, or emotional subdomains is associated with brain neurochemical alterations in the anterior cingulate region. Abnormal neuronal integrity over the anterior cingulate cortex may exhibit a central role in causing all aspects of apathy in patients with AD.

Cancer is a serious public health problem worldwide, and its relationship with affective disorders is not clear.

To investigate alcohol- and tobacco-related cancer risk among patients with affective disorders in a large Taiwanese cohort.

Records of newly admitted patients with affective disorders from January 1997 through December 2002 were retrieved from the Psychiatric Inpatient Medical Claims database in Taiwan. Cancers were stratified by site and grouped into tobacco- or alcohol-related cancers. Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated to compare the risk of cancer between those with affective disorders and the general population.

Some 10 207 patients with bipolar disorder and 9826 with major depression were included. The risk of cancer was higher in patients with major depression (SIR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.85–2.19) than in those with bipolar disorder (SIR 1.39, 95% CI 1.26–1.53). The elevated cancer risk among individuals ever admitted to hospital for affective disorders was more pronounced in tobacco- and/or alcohol-related cancers.

Elevated cancer risk was found in patients who had received in-patient care for affective disorders. They require holistic approaches to lifestyle behaviours and associated cancer risks.

Unawareness of deficits is common and is associated with poor outcomes in Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, little is known about correlated neurobiochemical changes.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to examine neurobiochemical correlates of unawareness of deficits as assessed by the Dementia Deficit Scale in 36 patients with AD. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy spectra were acquired from the anterior cingulate area and right orbitofrontal area. Concentrations of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), total creatine, and other neurometabolites were calculated.

Nineteen (52.8%) participants had relative unawareness of deficits. This condition was negatively correlated with NAA/creatine in the anterior cingulate area (β = −0.36, p = 0.025) and positively correlated with NAA/creatine in the right orbitofrontal area (β = 0.41, p = 0.009) after controlling for dementia severity.

These findings suggest unawareness of deficits in AD was associated with the altered neurochemical metabolites in the anterior cingulate area and right orbitofrontal area. However, the two areas might have opposite neuronal functions in unawareness of deficits.

Although teachers are the key participants in health-promoting schools (HPS) programme delivery, it is still unknown whether teachers are appropriate health information resources and role models for students with respect to healthy diets. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of implementing HPS programmes on teachers’ nutrition knowledge and diets.

One HPS programme aiming at dietary intervention (HP-D) and one HPS not aiming at dietary intervention (HP-ND) were selected, along with two non-health-promoting (NHP) schools matched for school size and urbanization level with the two HPS. All 361 teachers in the four schools were invited to participate, yielding a 78·4 % overall valid response rate. A structured, self-reported questionnaire was administered, with regression models used for statistical analysis.

Teachers in the HP-D group had a mean score of 21·1 on a range of 0–30 for nutrition knowledge, which was significantly higher than the mean scores of 18·5 in the HP-ND group and 19·1 in the NHP group (P < 0·001). Better dietary behaviours were also observed among HP-D teachers. Further, being a ‘health education’ course instructor was associated with significantly higher scores on nutrition knowledge (β = 2·6, P < 0·001) and vegetable and fruit consumption (β = 1·4, P = 0·02) in the HP-D group than in the NHP group. The HP-ND and NHP groups exhibited similar patterns of non-significant differences compared with the HP-D group.

Implementation of a coordinated HPS framework on nutrition and diet was positively correlated with schoolteachers’ nutrition knowledge and dietary intake.

The sudden emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused international anxiety owing to its highly contagious and pandemic transmission. Health workers are vulnerable and are at high risk of infection.

To assess SARS-related stress and its immediate psychological impact and responses among health workers.

Health workers in a tertiary hospital affected by SARS were invited to complete a questionnaire designed to evaluate exposure experience, psychological impact and psychiatric morbidity. The risk and rates of psychiatric morbidity were estimated for exposure experience.

Altogether, 1257 health workers successfully completed the survey. In the initial phase of the outbreak, when the infection was spreading rapidly, feelings of extreme vulnerability, uncertainty and threat to life were perceived, dominated by somatic and cognitive symptoms of anxiety. During the ‘repair’ phase, when the infection was being brought under control, depression and avoidance were evident. The estimated prevalence of psychiatric morbidity measured by the Chinese Health Questionnaire was about 75%.

The outbreak of SARS could be regarded as an acute episode of a bio-disaster, leading to a significantly high rate of psychiatric morbidity.