Two eases of Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) are reported and relative literature is reviewed in this article.Both cases were female,with disturbance of consciousness and dementia as initial symptoms.Marked increase of anti-thyroid antibodies was found in serum of the patients.The symptoms disappeared after steroids and maintenance therapies.A total of 126 cases of HE in Chinese literature were retrieved from 2006 to 2015 through the databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Med Online.The male/female radio was 1 ∶ 6 with an average age of 51.3 years.The clinical manifestations included cognitive impairment (44.5％),epilepsy (38.3％),psychiatric disorders (27.3％),stroke-like symptoms (25.8％),disturbance of consciousness (24.2％),and extrapyramidal symptoms (20.3％).Good response to steroids was observed in 77.2％ HE patients.Analysis indicates that HE is an autoimmune disease with the presence of neurological and psychiatric manifestations,elevated titers of anti-thyroid antibodies in serum and well response to steroids,with a good prognosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of allergic rhinitis (AR) in urban and rural areas of Ningbo and Yongzhou. METHOD: Fifteen fields in the two cities from October 2006 to June 2007 were randomly selected. Cases suspected with symptoms of AR by a self-administered and interview questionnaire were recommended to special examinations for confirmed diagnosis. RESULT: 1. A total of 9969 individuals from 3803 families were surveyed, of whom 303 suffered with AR. 2. The prevalence rate was 4.10% in Ningbo and 1.65% in Yongzhou (the sex-adjusted rate was 4.10% and 1.64% respectively, and the age-adjusted rate was 4.33% and 1.58%); the population of island inhabitants had the lowest prevalence rate of 0.73%. 3. The prevalence rate in patients with asthma and that with family genetic history was 8% and 12% respectively. CONCLUSION It demonstrates that the prevalence rate is higher in Ningbo than in Yongzhou, in urban than in rural and in adolescent than in other ages. Allergic rhinitis may be associated with asthma and related to genetic factors. Allergic rhinitis may be curable.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asthma ; epidemiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; epidemiology ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal ; epidemiology ; Rural Population ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population ; Young Adult