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Background: Cancer patients are disproportionately affected by generalized anxiety and major depression. For many, current treatments for these conditions are ineffective. In this case report, we present a serendipitous case of anxiety and depression improvement following administration of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor niraparib. Case presentation: A 61-year old woman with a 20-year history of mild depression developed recurrent ovarian carcinoma and was placed on niraparib for maintenance chemotherapy. With the original onset of ovarian cancer, she experienced an episode of major depression that was resolved with sertraline. After recurrence of ovarian cancer, she experienced a recurrence of major depression and a new onset of generalized anxiety that failed to completely respond to multiple medications. After beginning niraparib therapy the patient noticed a rapid resolution of the symptoms of her anxiety and depression, an effect that was limited to 10-14 days. Due to bone marrow suppression, the patient was taken off and restarted on niraparib several times. Each discontinuation of niraparib resulted in return of her depression and anxiety, while each recontinuation of niraparib resulted in an improvement in her mood and anxiety. Conclusions: This case demonstrates rapid and temporary improvement of anxiety and depression following niraparib administration. There is ample preclinical data that PARP signaling may play a role in psychiatric illness. A small amount of indirect data from clinical trials also shows that niraparib may have psychiatric benefits. Further research on PARP inhibition and its potential psychoactive effects is sorely needed.

Background: Many physiological and psychological changes happens to women during the time of menopause. The symptoms differ according to the individual, culture and ethnicity. As the women pass through various stages of menopause, the prevalence of symptoms also varies. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of post-menopausal health problems among the women above 45 years old and to identify the prevalence of symptoms in post-menopausal life.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a private hospital in Ajman, UAE among women aged 45 years and above with a validated self-administered questionnaire. Ethics approval was obtained before the study. Data were coded, entered, and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Chi-square tests and descriptive statistics like frequency tables and crosstabs were used.Results: The mean age of women participants was 50.7 years. The results showed that 50.2% of the women had moderate knowledge about post-menopausal health problems, while 37% and 12.8% had excellent and poor knowledge, respectively. Prevalence of post-menopausal symptoms among women were hot flushes (55.1%), dry skin (54.7%), muscle pain (54.5%), joint pain (52.9%), and weight gain (51%). Women suffered from at least one of the post-menopausal symptoms. Hot flushes, dry skin, muscle pain, and weight gain were significantly associated with the menopausal status (p<0.05).Conclusions: Post-menopausal symptoms hot flushes, dry skin, and muscle pain were significantly associated with a peri-menopausal or post-menopausal state. Women must be made aware of these symptoms and their causes and treatments as well.