Associations of Chinese Herbal Medicine Usage with Risk of Dementia in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: A Population-Based, Nested Case-Control Study.

Background: Patients who have Parkinson's disease (PD) comorbid with dementia is common. With the prolonged life expectancy, dementia is gradually becoming prevalent and affects most patients' life qualities. However, the efficacy of current treatments in dementia of PD is limited. Previous studies indicated the potential roles of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in treating dementia, yet the correlation between CHM usage and risk of dementia in PD patients is unclear. Methods: This case-control study was nested within a National Health Insurance database of patients over 50 years with newly diagnosed PD from year 2000 to 2010. Among these PD patients, dementia and nondementia groups were discussed, respectively, in terms of the duration of taking CHM (≥90 vs. <90 days), age (50-64 vs. ≥65 years) and gender. Results: The risk of dementia in patients with PD is lower in CHM users compared with non-CHM users, especially in those taking CHM for more than 90 days (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.58; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.39-0.87). The use of CHM was significantly related to the lower risk of dementia in the subgroups of patients with age ≥65 years for CHM usage <90 days (aOR 0.68; 95% CI 0.53-0.88), patients with age ≥65 years for CHM usage ≥90 days (aOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.42-0.94), female patients using CHM for ≥90 days (aOR 0.43; 95% CI 0.22-0.84), and male patients using CHM for <90 days (aOR 0.62; 95% CI 0.43-0.88). Conclusions: The authors demonstrated the association of CHM usage with lower risk of dementia in patients with PD, especially in women with the usage of CHM for more than 90 days. Since no arbitrary causal conclusions could be drawn from retrospective cohort studies, the finding in this study could be used to generate a hypothesis for a subsequent design of prospective longitudinal study.

Epidemiology of hidradenitis suppurativa in Taiwan: A 14-year nationwide population-based study.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), also called acne inversa, is an inflammatory skin disease, which causes HS patients to suffer from recurrent symptoms and severe comorbidities. The aim of this article was to provide evidence on the epidemiology of HS in Taiwan through a retrospective population-based cohort study. The patients with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 705.83 and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical codes for HS treatments from 2000 to 2013 in the National Health Insurance Research Database, which covers 99.9% Taiwanese residents, were enrolled in this 14-year nationwide population-based cohort study. The age- and sex-standardized prevalence, incidence, and the prescription pattern for HS were analyzed. The annual percent change (APC) was used to estimate the trend of prevalence and incidence of HS from 2000 to 2013. During 2000-2013 in Taiwan, the 14-year period prevalence rate was 185.6/100 000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 177.3-194.3) with an APC of -2.96% (95% CI, -1.73 to -4.17) and the mean annual adjusted incidence rate from 2001 to 2013 was 11.8/100 000 (95% CI, 11.2-12.5) with an APC of -4.65% (95% CI, -3.32 to -5.95). Female : male ratio was 0.92 and the most common onset age was 15-24 years. Major treatments were systemic corticosteroids, systemic antihistamines, systemic antibiotics, and topical antibiotics. An increasing tendency of using systemic antibiotics was noted. In Taiwan, decreasing incidence and prevalence of HS was shown during 2000-2013. Relatively lower incidence and prevalence were noted compared to Western countries. Male predominance was revealed, and the use of systemic antibiotics became the mainstream in treatment for HS.