Eating disorders and the risk of esophageal and stomach cancers-A nationwide, population-based cohort study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown elevated cancer risk in anorexia nervosa but the literature on other eating disorders (EDs) is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the association between all EDs and esophageal, stomach, and other cancers. METHODS: We used a retrospective cohort design, based on a two-million randomized longitudinal health insurance dataset, a sub-dataset of Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. From all the potential participants aged 20 years or more, a total of 6,628 participants were enrolled, including 1,657 patients with EDs, with sex-, age-, and indexed date-matched (1:3) 4,971 controls. Each participant was individually tracked from 2000 to 2015 to identify incident cases of cancers, including esophageal cancer (EC), stomach cancer (SC), and all other cancers (AOC). The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was employed to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between EDs and cancer. RESULTS: Of the total 6,628 enrollees, 222 in 1,657 individuals with EDs and 810 in the 4,971 non-ED control individuals developed cancer (1,262.40 vs. 1,472.15 per 100,000 person-years), and the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was not statistically significant (log-rank, p = .324). However, after adjusting for covariates, the risk of EC and SC among the individuals with an ED was significantly higher, with adjusted HRs of 5.32 (95% CI: 1.07-26.49, p < .001) and 4.61 (95% CI: 1.91-11.14, p < .001), respectively. EDs were not associated with other cancers. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the association between EDs and the risk for EC and SC. Further research on mechanisms and prevention is therefore needed.

Psychiatric Disorders After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study and the Effects of Rehabilitation Therapies.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk of psychiatric disorders after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to clarify whether the post-TBI rehabilitation was associated with a lower risk of developing psychiatric disorders. DESIGN: A register-based, retrospective cohort design. SETTING: Using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, we established an exposed cohort with TBI and a nonexposed group without TBI matched by age and year of diagnosis between 2000 and 2015. PARTICIPANTS: This study included 231,894 patients with TBI and 695,682 patients without TBI (N=927,576). INTERVENTIONS: Rehabilitation therapies in TBI patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to compare the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: The incidence rate of psychiatric disorders was higher in the TBI group than the control group. Compared with the control group, the risk of psychiatric disorders in the TBI group was twofold (hazard ratio [HR]=2.072; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.955-2.189; P<.001). Among the participants with TBI, 49,270 (21.25%) had received rehabilitation therapy and had a lower risk of psychiatric disorders (HR=0.691; 95% CI, 0.679-0.703; P<.001). In the subgroup analysis, the medium- to high-level intensity rehabilitation therapy was associated with lower risks of psychiatric disorder (HR=0.712 and 0.568, respectively), but there was no significant finding in the low-intensity group. CONCLUSIONS: We found that TBI was associated with a high risk for developing psychiatric disorders, and that the post-TBI rehabilitation significantly reduced the risk of psychiatric disorders in a dose-dependent manner.

Pinworm infections associated with risk of psychiatric disorders-A nationwide cohort study in Taiwan: Pinworm infections and psychiatric disorders.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the association between males with pinworm infections and the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. METHOD: A total of 2044 enrolled patients, with 511 pinworm subjects and 1533 unexposed subjects (1:3) matched for sex, age and index year, from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) from 2000 to 2015, selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). After adjusting for confounding factors, the Cox regression model was used to compare the risk of developing psychiatric disorders during the 15 years of follow-up. RESULTS: Of all the enrollees, 24 in the pinworm cohort and 18 in the unexposed cohort (343.10 vs 84.96 per 100,000 person-year) developed psychiatric disorders. The Cox regression model revealed that, after adjusting for sex, age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region, and comorbidities, the adjusted HR was 4.581 (95% CI: 2.214-9.480, p < .001, p < .001). Pinworm infections were associated with the increased risk in anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and sleep disorders, respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients who suffered from pinworm infections have a higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders, and this finding should be considered as a timely reminder for the clinicians to provide much more attention for these patients because of their mental health issues.

Risk of psychiatric disorders in irritable bowel syndrome-A nationwide, population-based, cohort study.

AIMS: This cohort study aimed to investigate the association between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. METHODS: Utilizing the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan, IBS patients were identified and compared with age, sex, and index year-matched controls (1:3). RESULTS: Of the IBS subjects, 3934 in 22 356 (17.60%, or 1533.68 per 100 000 person-years) developed psychiatric disorders when compared with 6127 in 67 068 (9.14%, or 802 per 100 000 person-years) in the non-IBS control group. Fine and Gray's survival analysis revealed that the study subjects were more likely to develop psychiatric disorders. The crude hazard ratio (HR) is 3.767 (95% CI: 3.614-3.925, P < .001), and the adjusted HR is 3.598 (95% CI: 3.452-3.752, P < .001) in the risk of developing psychiatric disorders after being adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, geographical area of residence, urbanisation level of residence, and monthly insurance premiums. The cohort study revealed that IBS subjects were associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, bipolar, and sleep disorders. CONCLUSIONS: This cohort study, using NHIRD, shows evidence support that patients with IBS have a 3.6-fold risk of developing psychiatric disorders. Other large or national datasets should be done to explore to underlying mechanisms.

Role of the BaeSR two-component system in the regulation of Acinetobacter baumannii adeAB genes and its correlation with tigecycline susceptibility.

BACKGROUND: Tigecycline resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii is primarily acquired through overexpression of the AdeABC efflux pump. Besides AdeRS, other two-component regulatory systems (TCSs) involving the regulation of this transporter have not been clarified. RESULTS: In this study, we found that the TCS genes baeR and baeS are co-transcribed and function as stress responders under high osmotic conditions. The baeSR and adeAB genes showed increased transcription in both the laboratory-induced and clinical tigecycline-resistant strains compared with the wild-type strain. The deletion of baeR in the ATCC 17978 strain led to 67-73% and 68% reduction in adeA and adeB expression, respectively, with a resultant 2-fold decrease in the tigecycline minimal inhibition concentration (MIC). In contrast, the overexpression of baeR resulted in a doubled tigecycline MIC, with a more than 2-fold increase in adeA and adeB expression. The influence of baeR knockout on adeAB gene expression can also be observed in the laboratory-induced tigecycline-resistant strain. A time-kill assay showed that the baeR deletion mutant showed an approximate 1-log10 reduction in colony forming units (CFUs) relative to the wild-type strain when the tigecycline concentration was 0.25 µg/mL throughout the assay period. The wild-type phenotype could be restored by trans-complementation with pWH1266-kanr-baeR. Increasing the tigecycline concentration to 0.5 µg/mL produced an even more marked 4.7-log10 reduction in CFUs of the baeR deletion mutant at 8 h, while only a 2.1-log10 reduction was observed for the wild-type strain. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these data show for the first time that the BaeSR TCS influences the tigecycline susceptibility of A. baumannii through the positive regulation of the resistance-nodulation-division efflux pump genes adeA and adeB.

Psychiatric consultations as a modifiable factor for repeated suicide attempt-related hospitalizations: A nationwide, population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The risk of mortality and morbidity increased in repeated suicide attempts. This study aimed to investigate how psychiatric consultations, a modifiable factor, affects the risk of repeated suicide attempts in patients. METHODS: The National Health Insurance Research Database was used in this study. All inpatients aged ≧10 with suicide attempts were recruited in Taiwan from 2000 through 2015. Both the cross-sectional and cohort studies were used to evaluate the risk of repeated suicide attempts associated with psychiatric consultations. RESULTS: In the cross-sectional approach, a total of 88,161 suicide attempts and 7,997 with repeated suicide attempts were found. Multivariable logistic regression found that the patients with psychiatric consultations were associated with the decreased risk of repeated suicide attempt-related hospitalization (SARD), as per the adjusted odds ratio of 0.527 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.416-0.859, p <0.001). In the retrospective cohort approach, the Fine and Gray's survival analysis revealed that the patients with psychiatric consultations were associated with a lower risk of repeated SARD (adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] =0.533( 95% CI, 0.332-0.850, p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, psychiatric consultations for the patients could be a modifiable factor, which were associated with the decreased risk of repeated suicide attempts. The age of clinicians and their experience could be the primary variable above and beyond the mental illness or the performed suicide attempt method.

The risk of eating disorders among female undergraduates in Taiwan.

The objective of this study was to investigate disordered eating among female college students. The study sought to establish a predictive model for the risk of eating disorders in young female university students in Taiwan. A group of 336 student participants were recruited with the results showing that more than one third (43.2%) of the college women surveyed were identified to be at risk for developing an eating disorder. The results of multiple logistic regression showed that bulimia score, elevated depression index, eating binges, the use of laxatives and medicine to control weight, and having lost 20 lb, or more, in the past 6 months were all considered to be risk factors for developing an eating disorder (the corresponding area under receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.905). The results demonstrate that unhealthy dietary behaviors are rapidly spreading among young Taiwanese female students. For the sample described in this article, 67.6% of the female college students had lost weight: 51% had dieted at least once to lose weight, 43% used exercise to lose weight, 24% used low-calorie diets to lose weight, 11% used healthy food to lose weight, 9.2% used rubber clothing and a diet patch to lose weight, 17.9% of the students used weight-loss drugs, and a few students sought medical assistance from weight-loss clinics or actually underwent liposuction (1.5%).

Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children and Adolescents and the Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This study has investigated the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), including acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, and acute stroke, among children and adolescents (age younger than 20 years) with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS: In this study, the population-based National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan was used to identify patients in whom OSA had been first diagnosed between 2000 and 2015. Children and adolescents with OSA (n = 6,535) were included with 1:3 ratio by age, sex, and index year of control participants without OSA (n = 19,605). The Cox proportional regression model was used to evaluate the risk of MACEs in this cohort study. RESULTS: After a 15-year follow-up, the incidence rate of MACEs was higher in the OSA cohort when compared with the non-OSA control cohort (15.97 and 8.20 per 100,000 person-years, respectively). After adjusting for covariates, the risk of MACEs among children and adolescents with OSA was still significantly higher (hazard ratio = 2.050; 95% confidence interval = 1.312-3.107; P = .010). No MACEs were found in the children and adolescents with OSA who received continuous airway positive pressure treatment or pharyngeal surgery. CONCLUSIONS: This study found a significantly higher risk of MACEs in children and adolescents with OSA. These findings strongly suggest that clinicians should provide careful follow-up and medical treatment for children and adolescents with OSA.

Risk of psychiatric disorders in overactive bladder syndrome: a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan.

Population-based cohort study investigating the risk of depression and other psychiatric disorders for patients with overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome is unavailable. This study investigated the subsequent risk of psychiatric disorders among patients with OAB in an Asian population. Using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, we established a cohort with 811 patients in an exposed group with OAB between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2000, and a non-exposed group, without OAB, of 2433 patients without OAB matched by age and year of diagnosis. The occurrence of psychiatric disorders and Cox regression model measured adjusted HRs (aHR) were monitored until the end of 2013. The overall incidence of psychiatric disorders was 41.7% higher in the exposed group with OAB than in the non-exposed group without OAB (14.2% vs 10.1%, p<0.001), with an aHR of 1.34 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.80, p<0.001) for the OAB cohort. OAB was associated with the increased risk of dementia, anxiety, depressive, sleep, and psychotic disorders, with aHRs as 1.53 (p=0.040), 1.61 (p<0.001), 2.10 (p<0.001), 1.43 (p<0.001), and 2.49 (p=0.002), respectively. The risk of psychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety, is significantly higher in patients with OAB than in those without OAB. Evaluation of psychiatric status in patients with OAB is strongly recommended.

Risk of psychiatric disorders in pulmonary embolism: a nationwide cohort study.

This study aims to investigate the association between pulmonary embolism (PE) and the risk of psychiatric disorders. A total of 21,916 patients aged ≥20 years with PE between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2015, were selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, along with 65,748 (1:3) controls matched for sex and age. Cox regression model revealed the crude HR was 1.539 (95% CI 1.481 to 1.599; p<0.001), and after adjusting all the covariates, the adjusted HR was 1.704 (95% CI 1.435 to 1.991, p<0.001), for the risk of psychiatric disorders in the PE cohort. PE was associated with the overall psychiatric disorders, dementia, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, after the exclusion of the psychiatric diagnoses in the first year. PE was associated with the overall psychiatric disorders, dementia, anxiety, and depression, after the exclusion of the psychiatric diagnoses in the first 5 years. The patients with PE were associated with psychiatric disorders. This finding could serve as a reminder to the physicians to be more watchful and aware in the long-term follow-up of patients with PE for their care and potential mental health problems.

Risk of Psychiatric Morbidity in Psychosexual Disorders in Male Patients: A Nationwide, Cohort Study in Taiwan.

This study aimed to investigate the association between males with psychosexual disorders (PSDs) and the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. A total of 34,972 enrolled patients, with 8,743 subjects who had suffered from PSD and 26,229 controls (1:3) matched for age and index year, from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) from 2000 to 2015, selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). After adjusting all the confounding factors, the multivariate Cox regression model was used to compare the risk of developing psychiatric disorders, between the PSD and non-PSD groups, during the 15 years of follow-up. Of the all enrollees, 1,113 in the PSD cohort and 2,611 in the non-PSD cohort (1,180.96 vs. 954.68 per 100,000 person-year) developed psychiatric disorders. Multivariate Cox regression model survival analysis revealed that, after adjusting for gender, age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region, and comorbidities, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 2.448 (95% CI [2.227, 2.633], p < .001). PSD has been associated with the increased risk in anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, sleep disorders, and psychotic disorders, respectively. Sexual dysfunctions, paraphilia, and gender identity disorders were associated with the overall psychiatric disorders with adjusted HRs as 1.990 ( p < .001), 11.622 ( p < .001), and 5.472 ( p < .001), respectively. Male patients who suffered from PSD have a higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders, and this finding should be considered as a timely reminder for the clinicians to provide much more attention for these patients because of their mental health issues.

Risk of Dementia in Adults With ADHD: A Nationwide, Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association between adults with ADHD and the risk of developing dementia. METHOD: Utilizing National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, ADHD patients were identified and compared with age- and gender-matched controls (1:3). RESULTS: Of the study participants, 37 (5.48%) developed dementia compared with 81 (4.0%) in the control group. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that the study participants were more likely to develop dementia. The crude hazard ratio (HR) is 3.418 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [2.289, 5.106], p < .001), and adjusted HR is 4.008 (95% CI = [2.526, 6.361], p < .001) in risk of developing dementia after adjusted for age, gender, comorbidities, geographical area of residence, urbanization level of residence, and monthly income. CONCLUSION: Adults with ADHD have a 3.4-fold risk of developing dementia, and other large or national data sets should be explored to support the current findings.

Increased Risk of Psychiatric Disorders in Allergic Diseases: A Nationwide, Population-Based, Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Allergic diseases, such as bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and psychiatric disorders, are major health issues. There have been reports that allergic diseases were associated with depression or anxiety disorders. This study aimed to investigate the association between these allergic diseases and the risk of developing overall psychiatric disorders in patients from Taiwan. METHODS: This cohort study used the database of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. A total of 186,588 enrolled patients, with 46,647 study subjects who had suffered from allergic diseases, and 139,941 controls matched for sex and age, from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Dataset of 2000-2015, were selected from a sub-dataset of the National Health Insurance Research Database. Fine and Gray's competing risk model analysis was used to explore the hazard ratio (HR), and 95% confidence interval, for the risk of allergic diseases being associated with the risk of developing psychiatric disorders during the 15 years of follow-up. RESULTS: Of the study subjects, 5,038 (10.8%) developed psychiatric disorders when compared to 9,376 (6.7%) in the control group, with significant difference (p < 0.001). Fine and Gray's competing risk model analysis revealed that the adjusted HR was 1.659 (95% CI = 1.602-1.717, p < 0.001). In this study, we found that the groups of atopic dermatitis alone and the allergic rhinitis + atopic dermatitis were associated with a lower risk of psychiatric disorders, but all the other four groups, such as bronchial asthma alone, allergic rhinitis alone, bronchial asthma + allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma + atopic dermatitis, and the combination of all these three allergic diseases, were associated with a higher risk of psychiatric disorders. CONCLUSION: Allergic diseases are therefore associated with a 1.66-fold increased hazard of psychiatric disorders in Taiwan.

Risk of dementia after charcoal-burning suicide attempts: a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan.

This study aimed to investigate the association between charcoal-burning suicide attempts and the risk of developing dementia. A nationwide, matched cohort, population-based study enrolled a total of 4103 patients with newly diagnosed charcoal-burning suicide attempts, between 2000 and 2010, which were selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, along with 12,309 controls matched for sex and age. After adjusting for confounding factors, Fine and Gray's competing risk analysis was used to compare the risk of developing dementia during the 10-year follow-up period. Of the enrolled patients (n=16,412), dementia developed in 303 (1.85%), including 2.56% in the study group (105 in 4103) and 1.61% (198 in 12,309) in the control group. The Fine and Gray's survival analysis revealed that the patients with charcoal-burning suicide attempts were likely to develop dementia, with a crude HR of 5.170 (95% CI 4.022 to 6.644, p<0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidity, geographic area and urbanization level of residence, and monthly insured premium, the adjusted HR was 4.220 (95% CI 3.188 to 5.586, p<0.001). Suicide attempts were associated with an increased risk of degenerative dementia in this study. Patients with charcoal-burning suicide attempts had a fourfold risk of dementia than the control group.

Forensic Evaluations for Offenders With Dementia in Taiwan's Criminal Courts.

Dementia is an increasing world-wide health problem, and the association between dementia and adjudication of crimes has rarely been studied. The data in this study are described and analyzed by gender, psychiatric diagnosis, type of crime, and the acceptance rate by the courts of opinions tendered by forensic psychiatric examiners. The source data are derived from the databank of the Judicial Yuan (Judicial Department) of the Republic of China Law and Regulations Retrieval System. There was a male predominance of 85.1 percent. Larceny (42.6%) was the most frequent crime. There was also a high judicial acceptance rate of 91.5 percent of the professional opinions received from forensic psychiatric evaluators who examined defendants at the request of the courts. Psychiatrists play an important role in providing their professional opinions for the Taiwanese courts with regard to adjudication of evaluees with dementia. Most courts accepted psychiatrists' professional opinions about offenders with dementia, and the rate of acceptance was reflected in the judicial rulings of criminal responsibility.

Cognitive enhancers associated with decreased risk of injury in patients with dementia: a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan.

This study aimed to investigate the associations among dementia, psychotropic medications and the risk of overall injuries. In this nationwide matched cohort study, a total of 144 008 enrolled patients ≥age of 50, with 36 002 study subjects who suffered from dementia and 108 006 controls matched for sex and age, from the Inpatient Dataset, for the period 2000-2010 in Taiwan were selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database, according to International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification. When adjusting for the confounding factors, a Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to compare the risk of developing psychiatric disorders during the 10 years of follow-up. Of the study subjects, 6701 (18.61%) suffered injury when compared with 20 919 (19.37%) in the control group. The Cox regression analysis revealed that the study subjects were more likely to develop an injury (HR: 2.294, 95% CI=2.229 to 2.361, P<0.001) after adjusting for sex, age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region, and comorbidities. Psychotropic medications in the subjects with dementia were associated with the risk of injury (adjusted HR=0.217, 95% CI: 0.206 to 0.228, P<0.001). Cognitive enhancers, including acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and memantine, were associated with the risk of injury in the study subjects after being adjusted for all comorbidities and medications (adjusted HR=0.712(95% CI=0.512 to 0.925, P<0.01)). In conclusion, patients who suffered dementia had a higher risk of developing injury, and the cognitive enhancers were associated with the decreased risk of injury.

Risk of Erectile Dysfunction After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort study in Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION: In our study, we aimed to investigate the association between a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and subsequent erectile dysfunction (ED). This is a population-based study using the claims dataset from The National Health Insurance Research Database. METHODS: We included 72,642 patients with TBI aged over 20 years, retrospectively, selected from the longitudinal health insurance database during 2000-2010, according to the ICD-9-CM. The control group consisted of 217,872 patients without TBI that were randomly chosen from the database at a ratio of 1:3, with age- and index year matched. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to estimate the association between the TBI and subsequent ED. RESULTS: After a 10-year follow-up, the incidence rate of ED was higher in the TBI patients when compared with the non-TBI control group (24.66 and 19.07 per 100,000, respectively). Patients with TBI had a higher risk of developing ED than the non-TBI cohort after the adjustment of the confounding factors, such as age, comorbidity, residence of urbanization and locations, seasons, level of care, and insured premiums (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 2.569, 95% CI [1.890, 3.492], p < .001). CONCLUSION: This is the first study using a comprehensive nationwide database to analyze the association of ED and TBI in the Asian population. After adjusted the confounding factors, patients with TBI have a significantly higher risk of developing ED, especially organic ED, than the general population. This finding might remind clinicians that it's crucial in early identification and treatment of ED in post-TBI patients.

Anti-herpetic Medications and Reduced Risk of Dementia in Patients with Herpes Simplex Virus Infections-a Nationwide, Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan.

This retrospective cohort study is to investigate the association between herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections and dementia, and the effects of anti-herpetic medications on the risk involved, using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). We enrolled a total of 33,448 subjects, and identified 8362 with newly diagnosed HSV infections and 25,086 randomly selected sex- and age-matched controls without HSV infections in a ratio of 1:3, selected from January 1, to December 31, 2000. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the risk of developing dementia in the HSV cohort. This analysis revealed an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.564 (95% CI: 2.351-2.795, P < 0.001) for the development of dementia in the HSV-infected cohort relative to the non-HSV cohort. Thus, patients with HSV infections may have a 2.56-fold increased risk of developing dementia. A risk reduction of dementia development in patients affected by HSV infections was found upon treatment with anti-herpetic medications (adjusted HR = 0.092 [95% CI 0.079-0.108], P < 0.001). The usage of anti-herpetic medications in the treatment of HSV infections was associated with a decreased risk of dementia. These findings could be a signal to clinicians caring for patients with HSV infections. Further research is, therefore, necessary to explore the underlying mechanism(s) of these associations.

Magnesium oxide use and reduced risk of dementia: a retrospective, nationwide cohort study in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: Dietary magnesium may be associated with a lower risk of dementia; however, the impact of magnesium oxide (MgO), a common laxative, on dementia has yet to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the association between the usage of MgO and the risk of developing dementia. METHODS: We used a dataset from the National Health Research Institute Database (NHRID) of Taiwan containing one million randomly sampled subjects to identify patients aged ≥50 years with no history of MgO usage. A total of 1547 patients who had used MgO were enrolled, along with 4641 controls who had not used the MgO propensity score matched by age, gender and comorbidity, at a ratio of 1:3. After adjusting for confounding risk factors, a Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the risk of developing dementia during a 10 year follow-up period. RESULTS: Of the enrolled patients, 44 (2.84%) developed dementia, when compared to 199 (4.28%) in the control group. The Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that the patients who had used MgO were less likely to develop dementia with a crude hazard ratio of 0.617 (95% CI, 0.445-0.856, p = .004). After adjusting for age, gender, comorbidity, geographical area and urbanization level of residence, and monthly income, the adjusted hazard ratio was 0.517 (95% CI, 0.412-0.793, p = .001). CONCLUSIONS: The patients who used MgO had a decreased risk of developing dementia. Further studies on the effects of MgO in reducing the risk of dementia are therefore warranted.

Fibromyalgia and Risk of Dementia-A Nationwide, Population-Based, Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia is a syndrome of chronic pain and other symptoms and is associated with patient discomfort and other diseases. This nationwide matched-cohort population-based study aimed to investigate the association between fibromyalgia and the risk of developing dementia, and to clarify the association between fibromyalgia and dementia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 41,612 patients of age ≥50 years with newly diagnosed fibromyalgia between January 1, and December 31, 2000 were selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, along with 124,836 controls matched for sex and age. After adjusting for any confounding factors, Fine and Gray competing risk analysis was used to compare the risk of developing dementia during the 10 years of follow-up. RESULTS: Of the study subjects, 1,704 from 41,612 fibromyalgia patients (21.23 per 1,000 person-years) developed dementia when compared to 4,419 from 124,836 controls (18.94 per 1,000 person-years). Fine and Gray competing risk analysis revealed that the study subjects were more likely to develop dementia (hazard ratio: 2.29, 95% CI: 2.16-2.42; P < 0.001). After adjusting for sex, age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region of residence and comorbidities the hazard ratio was 2.77 (95% CI: 2.61-2.95, P < 0.001). Fibromyalgia was associated with increased risk of all types of dementia in this study. CONCLUSIONS: The study subjects with fibromyalgia had a 2.77-fold risk of dementia in comparison to the control group. Therefore, further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the association between fibromyalgia and the risk of dementia.