Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2017 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 6 Articles
Objective: Post-stroke depression (PSD) is common and has a negative impact on recovery.\nAlthough many stroke patients in Taiwan have used acupuncture as a supplementary treatment for\nreducing stroke comorbidities, little research has been done on the use of acupuncture to prevent\nPSD. Accordingly, our goal is to investigate whether using acupuncture after a stroke can reduce\nthe risk of PSD. Method: This population-based cohort study examined medical claims data from a\nrandom sample of 1 million insured people registered in Taiwan. Newly diagnosed stroke patients\nin the period 2000ââ?¬â??2005 were recruited in our study. All patients were followed through to the end\nof 2007 to determine whether they had developed symptoms of depression. A Cox proportional\nhazard model was used to estimate the relative risk of depression in patients after being diagnosed\nas having had a stroke, with a focus on the differences in those with and without acupuncture\ntreatment. Results: A total of 8487 newly-diagnosed stroke patients were included in our study; of\nthese, 1036 patients received acupuncture more than five times following their stroke, 1053 patients\nreceived acupuncture 1ââ?¬â??5 times following their stroke and 6398 did not receive acupuncture. After we\ncontrolled for potential confounders (e.g., age, sex, insurance premium, residential area, type of stroke,\nlength of hospital stay, stroke severity index, rehabilitation and major illnessââ?¬â??related depression),\nwe found that acupuncture after stroke significantly reduced the risk of depression, with a hazard\nratio (HR) of 0.475 (95% CI, 0.389ââ?¬â??0.580) in frequent acupuncture users and 0.718 (95% CI, 0.612ââ?¬â??0.842)\nin infrequent acupuncture users, indicating that acupuncture may lower the risk of PSD by an\nestimated 52.5% in frequent users and 28.2% in infrequent users. Conclusions: After we controlled for\npotential confounders, it appears that using acupuncture after a stroke lowers the risk of depression.\nAdditional strictly-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to better understand the specific\nmechanisms relating acupuncture to health outcomes....
Background: Antibiotic resistance has become one of the major problems facing humanity. The need for new\nantimicrobials has been increased dramatically. Plants are considered as one of the most promising sources for new\nantimicrobials discovery. Despite relatively small area, Armenia has large diversity of flora with many endemic\nspecies. In Armenian folk medicine plant materials have been used to treat various microbial diseases since ancient\ntimes. The goal of our research was to evaluate antimicrobial efficiency of different parts of five wild plants species\nwhich are commonly used in Armenian traditional medicine.\nMethods: Plant crude extracts were obtained with maceration technique using five solvents separately: distilled\nwater, methanol, chloroform, acetone, and hexane. Agar well diffusion assay was used for initial evaluation of\nantimicrobial properties of plant materials against five bacterial and two yeast strains. Minimum inhibitory concentrations\nof the most active plant parts were determined by broth microdilution method.\nResults: Crude extracts of all five tested plants expressed antimicrobial activity against at least four test strains at\n500 Ã?¼g mlâË?â??1 concentration. Minimum inhibitory and bactericidal/fungicidal concentrations of selected plant parts were\ndetermined. Crude acetone and hexane extracts of Hypericum alpestre and acetone extract of Sanguisorba officinalis\ninhibited the growth of P. aeruginosa even at 64 Ã?¼g mlâË?â??1 concentration. Chloroform and acetone extracts of Sanguisorba\nofficinalis exhibited cidal activity against P. aeruginosa till 256 Ã?¼g mlâË?â??1. Acetone was the most effective solvent for\nsolubilizing antimicrobial compounds for almost all tested plant materials.\nConclusions: Thus, antimicrobial activity of some medicinal plants used in Armenian traditional medicine was evaluated.\nSome of the plants had rather low minimum bacteriostatic/bactericidal concentrations and therefore they have\nprospective for further more inclusive studies....
Background: Patients with hypertension (HTN) reportedly have a higher risk of developing dementia. However,\nit remains unclear if use of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the most common form of complementary and\nalternative medicine, can help lower the risk of dementia for these patients. So the aim of the study was\nto investigate the effects of TCM on dementia risk among patients with hypertension.\nMethods: This longitudinal cohort study used the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database\n(NHIRD) to identify 143,382 newly diagnosed hypertension patients aged 20ââ?¬â??90 years who received treatment\nbetween 1998 and 2007. Among them, 52,365 (36.52%) had received TCM after the onset of hypertension\n(TCM users), and the remaining 91,017 patients (63.48%) were designated as a control group (non-TCM users).\nAll enrollees were followed until the end of 2012 to record the incidence of dementia. A Cox proportional\nhazards regression model was used to compute the hazard ratio (HR) of dementia in patients who received TCM.\nResults: During the 15-year follow-up, 3933 TCM users and 10,316 non-TCM users developed dementia, representing\nan incidence rate of 8.41 and 11.55%, respectively, per 1000 person-years. TCM users had a significantly reduced risk of\ndementia compared to non-TCM users (adjusted HR = 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.74ââ?¬â??0.81). The predominant\neffect was observed among those treated with TCM longer than 180 days (adjusted HR = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.62ââ?¬â??0.69).\nAmong the commonly used TCM products, Tian-Ma-Gou-Teng-Yin, Dan-Shen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae), Chuan-Niu-Xi\n(Radix Cyathulae), Ge-Gen (Radix Puerariae), Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San, and Jue-Ming-Zi (Semen Cassiae) were significantly\nassociated with a lower risk of dementia.\nConclusions: Results from this population-based study support the effects of TCM on reducing dementia risk, which\nmay provide a reference for dementia prevention strategies....
Introduction. Functional dyspepsia (FD), a common upper gastrointestinal disease, is difficult to manage because of the limitations\nof current conventional treatments. Yukgunja-tang (YGJT) is widely used to treat FD in clinical practice in Korea, Japan, and China.\nHowever, YGJT significantly improves few symptoms of FD. In Korean medicine, FDis a well-known functional gastric disease that\nshows difference in the effect of herbal medicine depending on constitution or type of Korean medicine diagnosis. This study aims\nto investigate the efficacy of YGJT on FD patients classified by 3-dimensional facial measurement using a 3-dimensional facial shape\ndiagnostic system (3-FSDS). Methods.Aplacebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, two-center trial will be performed to evaluate\nthe efficacy of YGJT on FDpatients. Eligible subjects will be initially classified as two types by 3-dimensional facial measurement\nusing the 3-FSDS. Ninety-six subjects (48 subjects per each type) will be enrolled.These subjects will be randomly allocated into\ntreatment or control groups in a 2 : 1 ratio. YGJT or placebo will be administered to each group during the 8-week treatment period.\nThe primary outcome is total dyspepsia symptom scale, and the secondary outcomes include single dyspepsia symptom scale,\nproportion of responders with adequate symptom relief, visual analog scale, Nepean dyspepsia index-Korean version, functional\ndyspepsia-related quality of life, and spleen qi deficiency questionnaire. Discussion.This is the first randomized controlled trial to\nassess the efficacy of the YGJT on FD patients classified by 3-dimensional facial measurement.We will compare the treatment effect\nof the YGJT on FD patients classified as two types using the 3-FSDS. The results of this trial will help the FD patients improve the\nsymptoms and quality of life effectively and provide objective evidence for prescribing the YGJT to FD patients in clinical practice.\nTrial Registration. This trial is registered with Clinical Research Information Service Identifier: KCT0001920, 15 May, 2016....
Background: Asian traditional herbal preparations are frequently considered for the contamination with undeclared\ntoxic or hazardous substances. The aim of this study was to determine the toxic heavy metals, pesticides and sulfur\ndioxide in decoctions that is a common form of final utilization in Korea.\nMethods: A total of 155 decoctions composed of multi-ingredient traditional herbs were randomly sampled from\nSeoul in Korea between 2013 and 2014. For each decoction, the concentrations of four heavy metals (arsenic,\ncadmium, lead and mercury), 33 pesticides and sulfur dioxide were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma\nmass spectrometry (ICP-MS), mercury analyzer, gas chromatography/nitrogen phosphorous detector (GC/NPD),\ngas chromatography/micro electron capture detector (GC/�¼ECD), and Monier-Williams method respectively.\nResults: One hundred fifty-two of One hundred fifty-five decoctions (98.1%) contained one of three heavy metals\n(96.1% for As, 97.4% for Cd, and 90.3% for Pb, 0.0% for Hg). Their average concentrations (77.0 �± 79.7 ug/kg for As,\n20.4 �± 23.7 ug/kg for Cd, and 68.8 �± 76.5 ug/kg for Pb) were approximately 20% of the maximum allowable limits\nof vegetable or ginseng beverage described in the Korean Food Standard Codex while their 95th percentile\nconcentrations were below than the guideline for them. None of 33 pesticides was detected in 155 decoction\nsamples, and only one sample showed over limit of detection for residual sulfites.\nConclusions: This study support that the contained status of toxic heavy metals, pesticides and sulfur dioxide in\nherbal decoctions are currently within safe level in Korea, and provide a reference data for the further studies\nfocused on the safety herbal preparations....
Background: Allergic diseases including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis are increasing worldwide.\nCommon medications used to treat these inflammatory disorders are anti-histamines and corticosteroids, but they\nhave their own limitations such as short duration and severe side effects. Thus, interest in complementary and\nalternative medicine is continually growing. Here, we investigate the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of Tonggyutang\n(TGT), a traditional Korean medicine that has been used to treat patients with allergic nasal disorders.\nMethods: We measured mRNA expressions and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-4,\nIL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-�±) by RT-PCR and ELISA assays in HMC-1 (human mast cell line-1)\nand HaCaT cells, immortalized human keratinocytes. Moreover, we evaluated the effect of TGT on two major\ninflammation-related pathways, mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) and NF-�ºB signaling pathway in these\ntwo cells.\nResults: Our results revealed that that TGT significantly reduced the expression and production of inflammatory\ncytokines such as IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-�± in the agonist-treated HMC-1 and HaCaT cells. We also found that TGT\nsuppressed MAPK signaling pathway including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 mitogen-activated\nprotein kinase (p38), and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) as well as NF-�ºB pathway, which are known to regulate\ninflammatory cytokine expression.\nConclusion: Taken together, our results demonstrate that TGT inhibits expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines by\nsuppressing MAPK and NF-kB pathway in both mast cells and keratinocytes, suggesting the potential use of TGT in\ntreating allergic inflammatory diseases....
Loading....