Clinical Pharmacy & Pharmacogenomics Life

代謝症候群 (metabolic syndrome, MeS) 是一種涵蓋了許多臨床與生化風險因子的疾病，這些病人可能正被心血管疾病、糖尿病與過早死亡等問題侵蝕著。
The metabolic syndrome (MeS) is a collection of clinical and biochemical risk factors that predispose affected individuals to cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus, and premature mortality (Med Clin North Am. 2006;90 (4): 573-591).

代謝症候群最主要的潛在風險因子是腹部肥胖 (abdominal obesity) 與胰島素阻抗性 (insulin resistance)。此外，不好活動者、年長者與荷爾蒙失衡也被認為是代謝症候群的病理性因子。其他被認為與代謝症候群相關的狀況包括非酒精性脂肪肝、多發性卵巢症候群、睡眠呼吸中止症，以及脂肪萎縮症。
The major underlying risk factors for MeS are abdominal obesity and insulin resistance. Habitual inactivity, aging, and hormonal imbalances are also considered to be pathogenic factors for MeS (J Am Coll Cardiol. 2005;44 (3): 720-732). Other conditions associated with MeS are non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, sleep apnea, and lipodystrophies (Bipolar Disord. 2005;7 (3): 246-259).

憂鬱與失智症之間的存在著許多糾葛、糾纏與糾結：據研究指出，憂鬱可能是 Alzheimer’s disease 與失智症的風險因子與前驅症狀 (prodrome)，而在失智症的每個階段中，都有可能會發併發憂鬱的情形。
The relationship between depression and dementia is complex: depression has been reported to be both a risk factor and a prodrome for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and is a common complication of dementia at all stages.

目前在證據上，對於輕度認知障礙 (mild cognitive impairment, MCI) 病人是否會因憂鬱而使病程進程為失智症，仍是呈現不一致的看法。
There is inconsistent evidence that the presence of depression increases the conversion rate to dementia in patients with mild cognitive impairment.

約有 20-30% 的 Alzheimer’s disease 患者會產生憂鬱的狀況，而且在血管型失智症 (vascular dementia, VoD) 和路易氏體失智症 (dementia with Lewy bodies, DLW) 的病人中發生憂鬱的比例更高。