International journal of epidemiology
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In the 19th century, eminent French sociologist Emile Durkheim found suicide rates to be higher in the Protestant compared with the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. We examined religious affiliation and suicide in modern Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal. ⋯ In Switzerland, the protective effect of a religious affiliation appears to be stronger in Catholics than in Protestants, stronger in older than in younger people, stronger in women than in men, and particularly strong for assisted suicides.
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Historical Article
Suicide in England and Wales 1861-2007: a time-trends analysis.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of premature mortality worldwide. Few studies have assessed long-term trends or sex differences in its incidence over time. We have investigated the age-, sex- and method-specific trends in suicide in England and Wales from 1861 to 2007. ⋯ The epidemiology of suicide in England and Wales has changed markedly over the past 146 years. The rapid rise in gas suicide deaths in the 1920s highlights how quickly a new method of suicide can be established in a population when it is easily available. The increase in suicides during the Great Depression has implications in relation to the current economic crisis. Changes in the acceptability and lethality of various suicide methods may account for the large variations in sex ratios over time.
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The association between diagnostic X-ray exposures early in life and increased risk of childhood leukaemia remains unclear. ⋯ The results suggest that exposure to post-natal diagnostic X-rays is associated with increased risk of childhood ALL, specifically B-cell ALL, but not AML or T-cell ALL. Given the imprecise measures of self-reported X-ray exposure, the results of this analysis should be interpreted with caution and warrant further investigation.