Effect of Electroacupuncture on the Treatment of Pneumonia in Patients with Hypertensive Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: Pneumonia is a serious postoperative complication of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH), and there is no specific treatment for pneumonia. In this study, we conducted randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the treatment of pneumonia in patients with HICH. METHODS: An equal number of patients with HICH complicated with pneumonia (n = 80 in total) were randomly placed in either the EA group (EA treatment and routine basic treatment) or the control group (routine basic treatment). After 14 days of treatment, clinical symptoms and signs, blood oxygen saturation, the level of inflammatory factors, the effective rate, the scores of the Barthel Index, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and Glasgow Coma Scale, the hospitalization time, and expenses were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The general information of the patients in the control and EA groups were similar. After 14 days of intervention, the patients in the EA group showed better symptom and sign scores, blood oxygen saturation levels, Barthel Index scores, Glasgow Coma Scale scores, and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores than the patients in the control group. Furthermore, the EA treatment also lowered the levels of inflammatory factors and white blood cell count. Additionally, the patients in the EA group showed higher effective rates than those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: EA benefits the treatment of pneumonia in patients with HICH.

Sleep onset latency is related with reduced bone mineral density in elderly people with insomnia: a retrospective study.

PURPOSE: Inconsistent outcome about association between insufficient sleep and bone mineral density (BMD) has been reported. The present study aimed to determine whether BMD was associated with score of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). METHODS: A total of 410 patients (mean age 81.6±5.9 years) attending our hospital for evaluation of sleep were retrospectively studied. Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry was used to measure BMD and T-score at femoral neck and lumbar spines over L2-L4 regions. Subjective sleep status was evaluated by the PSQI questionnaires. The Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square analysis were used to compare continuous variables and categorical variables, respectively. Spearman correlation test was conducted to find the relationship between BMD and other clinical factors. Multinomial logistic regressions analysis was performed to analyze independent factors predicting BMD. RESULTS: Majority of the participants with osteoporosis (OP) were female and had lower body mass index (BMI) and higher sleep onset latency score. Spearman correlation test showed that gender, BMI, score of total PSQI, and sleep onset latency were significantly related to BMD and T-score in femoral neck and lumbar region L2-L4. Finally, multinomial logistic regression analysis demonstrated that gender and age were independent factors for OP and osteopenia and that after adjustment for gender, age, and BMI, sleep onset latency of <15 minutes (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.15-0.96; P=0.04) and 16-30 minutes (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.17-0.79; P=0.01) were less likely to have reduced BMD. CONCLUSION: There was a significant association between BMD and sleep onset latency, suggesting that, in elderly patients with sleep problem, BMD measurement and intervention for OP might be valuable.

Four polymorphisms in the cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) gene and lung cancer risk: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous published data on the association between CYP1A2 rs762551, rs2069514, rs2069526, and rs2470890 polymorphisms and lung cancer risk have not allowed a definite conclusion. The present meta-analysis of the literature was performed to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 8 publications covering 23 studies were selected for this meta-analysis, including 1,665 cases and 2,383 controls for CYP1A2 rs762551 (from 8 studies), 1,456 cases and 1,792 controls for CYP1A2 rs2069514 (from 7 studies), 657 cases and 984 controls for CYP1A2 rs2069526 (from 5 studies) and 691 cases and 968 controls for CYP1A2 rs2470890 (from 3 studies). RESULTS: When all the eligible studies were pooled into the meta-analysis for the CYP1A2 rs762551 polymorphism, significantly increased lung cancer risk was observed in the dominant model (OR=1.21, 95 % CI=1.00-1.46). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significantly increased risk of lung cancer was observed in Caucasians (dominant model: OR=1.29, 95%CI=1.11-1.51; recessive model: OR=1.33, 95%CI=1.01-1.75; additive model: OR=1.49, 95%CI=1.12-1.98). There was no evidence of significant association between lung cancer risk and CYP1A2 rs2069514, s2470890, and rs2069526 polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this meta-analysis indicates that the CYP1A2 rs762551 polymorphism is linked to an increased lung cancer risk in Caucasians. Moreover, our work also points out the importance of new studies for rs2069514 associations in lung cancer, where at least some of the covariates responsible for heterogeneity could be controlled, to obtain a more conclusive understanding about the function of the rs2069514 polymorphism in lung cancer development.