Objective Nationwide data on eating disorders (EDs) among East Asian populations are scarce. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence, incidence, and psychiatric comorbidities of EDs in Taiwan. Method Drawing from the National Health Research Institute database, we identified the study subjects aged 11–34 years who received an ED diagnosis during ambulatory visits or hospitalization from 2001 to 2012. We analyzed the subjects by age and gender. Diagnoses for comorbid psychiatric disorders were entered in the analysis only if they occurred within 1 year before or after the ED diagnosis date. Rates were age‐ and sex‐adjusted to the average population within the study period. Results The estimated mean annual incidence was approximately 11.11 (95% CI 10.51–11.72) per 100,000 residents, and the 1 year prevalence was 20.87 (95% CI 20.05–21.70) per 100,000 residents, with evidence of female predominance (female/male ratio = 10.95, 95% CI = 8.97–13.36). Incidence and prevalence peaked at ages 20–24 in females and at ages 25–29 in males. Both rates nearly doubled within a decade. Specifically, the anorexia nervosa trend recently stabilized in females and decreased in males, while that for bulimia nervosa increased in both females and males. The most common comorbid diagnoses were anxiety (53%) and major depressive disorders (22%). Discussion The incidence and prevalence of EDs were lower in Taiwan than in Western countries. However, these rates were rapidly rising, notably in males. The majority of Taiwanese ED patients also received a diagnosis for various psychiatric comorbidities, a finding worthy of clinical attention.

Type 1 AIT caused by nodular goiter is rarely reported. Amiodarone should be avoided in such patients and subtotal thyroidectomy to remove the toxic nodule may be the treatment of choice.

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OBJECTIVE:  To investigate serum α‐fetoprotein (AFP) concentrations in patients with viral hepatitis. METHODS:  Serum concentrations of total bilirubin (TB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate amino­transferase (AST), albumin, globulin, AFP and viral markers were determined in 310 patients with pathologically proven viral hepatitis. The relation between the concentration of AFP and clinical manifestation, pathology, family history of liver malignant disease and virus type was studied. RESULTS:  Serum AFP concentrations were elevated in 115 of the 310 patients (37.1%). According to the pathological diagnosis, the lowest positive rate of AFP was in acute hepatitis (11.7%), the highest was in chronic severe hepatitis (66.7%), the second highest in liver cirrhosis (57.5%), and chronic hepatitis was intermediate (34.2%). If the diagnosis was based on the clinical manifestation, the highest positive rate was found in chronic severe hepatitis, the lowest in chronic hepatitis, and acute hepatitis was intermediate. The positive rate of serum AFP by virus type was 35.5% for hepatitis B (HBV), superinfected with HAV or with HEV was 62.8%, and with HCV was 27.3%. Only one in six patients with HCV infection and none with simple HAV or HEV infection were positive for AFP. In patients with a family history of liver cancer, the positive rate of AFP was higher than in those without such a history (57.9%vs 38.2%; P = 0.75). CONCLUSIONS:  The results indicate that AFP positivity is not uncommon in patients with viral hepatitis and if the patient has an elevated concentration, it is highly likely to be HBV infection or HBV super­infected with HAV or HEV.

Objective: To investigate the connections among social support, stress, and depression. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Guizhou Province in China. Population or Sample: An aggregate of 1,056 expectant ladies, had finished our questionnaire during pregnancy from March to April in 2020. Methods: The Edinburgh prenatal sadness scale, an independent pressure scale, and social support scale evaluated the downturn, stress, and social support of pregnant people during the pestilence. An auxiliary condition model was utilized to examine the immediate and aberrant connection between social support and prenatal misery. Main Outcome Measures: Incidence of depression. Results: During the pandemic time, 73.01% of pregnant ladies experienced prenatal misery. The model is suitable (chi-square = 11.96, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.07, RMR = 0.03). The auxiliary condition model indicated that the immediate pathway of social support to depression was critical (normalized pathway coefficient = - 0.34), and the aberrant pathway of stress to depression via social support was additionally huge (normalized pathway coefficient = 0.50). Stress partially intercedes the connection between social support and depression. Conclusion: Our discoveries posit that social support is related to an expanded danger of depression. Stress is decidedly corresponding to depression and assumes an interceding position between social support and stress. Thusly, directed mediation ought to be completed to lessen the depression of pregnant ladies and improve their psychological wellness status. Keywords: stress, depression, social support, structural equation model