Is Long-term Ambient Air Pollutant Exposure a Risk Factor for Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Children? A 12-year Longitudinal Cohort Study

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recent studies suggest that air pollution may play a role in gastrointestinal disorders. However, the effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on childhood irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is unclear. Hence, we conducted a nationwide cohort study to investigate the association between long-term air pollution exposure and the incidence and risk of IBS in Taiwanese children during 2000–2012. METHODS: We collected data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, linked to the Taiwan Air Quality-Monitoring Database according to the insurant living area and the air quality-monitoring station locations. Children < 18 years old, identified from January 1st, 2000, were followed-up until IBS diagnosis or December 31st, 2012. The daily average air pollutant concentrations were categorized into 4 quartile-based groups (Q1–Q4). We measured the incidence rate, hazard ratios (HRs), and 95% confidence intervals for IBS stratified by the quartiles of air pollutant concentration. RESULTS: A total of 3537 children (1.39%) were diagnosed with IBS within the cohort during the follow-up period. The incidence rate for IBS increased from 0.84 to 1.76, from 0.73 to 1.68, from 0.85 to 1.98, and from 0.52 to 3.22 per 1000 person-years, with increase in the carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, non-methane hydrocarbon, and methane quartile (from Q1 to Q4) exposure concentration, respectively. The adjusted HR for IBS increased with elevated carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, non-methane hydrocarbon, and methane exposure in Q4 to 1.98, 2.14, 2.19, and 5.87, respectively, compared with Q1. CONCLUSION: Long-term ambient air pollutant exposure is an environmental risk factor for childhood IBS.

Statin and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack in Head and Neck Cancer Patients with Radiotherapy / 대한뇌졸중학회지

No abstract available.

Parkinson’s disease and risk of colorectal cancer: A population-based case-control study in Taiwan

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether there is an association between Parkinson’s disease (PD) and colorectal cancer in Taiwan. Methods: This was a case-control study using claim data of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. There were 64,619 subjects aged 20-84 with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer as cases and 64,619 randomly selected subjects without colorectal cancer as controls from 2005 to 2011. Both cases and controls were matched by sex, age, comorbidities, and index year of diagnosing colorectal cancer. Subjects who were diagnosed with PD within 5 years of diagnosing colorectal cancer were excluded. The multivariable logistic regression model was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for risk of colorectal cancer associated with PD. Results: After adjusting for confounding factors, the multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the adjusted OR of colorectal cancer was 0.69 for subjects with PD more than 5 years before index date (95% CI 0.59, 0.81), as compared with subjects without PD. Conclusion: PD is associated with reduced odds of colorectal cancer. Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying our findings.

Parkinson’s disease and risk of pancreatic cancer: a population-based case-control study in Taiwan

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cancer in Taiwan. Methods: This was a case-control study using claim data of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. There were 13,861 subjects aged 20- 84 with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer as cases and 55,444 randomly selected subjects without pancreatic cancer as controls from 1998 to 2011. Cases and controls were matched by sex, age and index year of diagnosing pancreatic cancer. The association of pancreatic cancer with Parkinson’s disease was evaluated by the multivariable logistic regression model to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: After adjusting for confounding factors including acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, biliary stone, alcoholism, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, the multivariable logistic regression analysis showed the adjusted OR of pancreatic cancer was 0.82 for subjects with Parkinson’s disease (95% CI 0.55, 1.21), as compared with subjects without Parkinson’s disease. Conclusion: No association is detected between Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cancer.

Increased risk of hip fracture in diabetic elderly

To investigate the relationship between diabetes mellitus [DM] and risk of hip fracture in older people in Taiwan Retrospective cohort study using the database for the period 1998 - 2010 from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program Taiwan National Health Insurance program There were 16,249 individuals aged 65 years or older with newly diagnosed DM as the diabetes group and 64,996 individuals without DM as the none-diabetes group. The risk of hip fracture in both groups incidence of hip fracture than the non-diabetes group [1080 Vs 859.6 per 100,000 person-years, incidence rate ratio 1.26, 95% CI 1.20, 1.31]. DM is associated with 1.26-fold increased risk of hip fracture in older people in Taiwan. Older people with DM should be closely followed to reduce the risk of hip fracture

No association between schizophrenia and female hepatocellular carcinoma: a case-control study in Taiwan

To investigate the relationship between schizophrenia and hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] in women in Taiwan Case-control study by analyzing the database from the Taiwan National Health Insurance program There were 922 female subjects aged 40 years or older with newly diagnosed HCC as the case group and 3688 female subjects aged 40 years or older without HCC as the control group. The relationship between schizophrenia and HCC was investigated. After controlling for confounding factors, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio of HCC was 1.82 [95% CI = 0.64, 5.18] in subjects with schizophrenia, when compared with non-schizophrenia subjects. There is no association between schizophrenia and HCC in women in Taiwan

Use of proton pump inhibitors correlates with increased risk of pancreatic cancer: a case-control study in Taiwan

To investigate whether use of proton pump inhibitors [PPIs] enhances the risk of pancreatic cancer. Retrospective case control study. Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taiwan. We identified 977 patients aged 20 years or older with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer as the case group between 2000 and 2010. The control group consisted of 3908 subjects without pancreatic cancer selected from the same sample. Use of Proton pump inhibitors. History of using PPIs and other comorbidities were compared between cases and controls. After adjustment for confounders, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that pancreatic cancer had strong association with PPIs use [OR 9.28, 95% CI 7.77 - 11.08]. Among PPI drugs, those using esomeprazole were at the highest risk with an odds ratio of 12.1 [95% CI 9.76 - 15.0]. Taking PPIs correlates with increased risk of pancreatic cancer. The risk may greater for those taking esomeprazole

Statin use and risk of lung cancer in males: a case-control study in Taiwan

To explore the association between statin use and lung cancer risk in men in Taiwan. A nested case-control study. Data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program, 2000 to 2010 Two thousand two hundred and ninety male patients aged 20 years or older with newly diagnosed lung cancer as cases and 9160 male subjects without lung cancer as controls. The association between statin use and lung cancer risk was estimated After adjustment for confounders including pulmonary tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asbestosis and tobacco use, multivariate logistic regression showed the adjusted odds ratio of lung cancer was 0.79 for the statins-use group [95% CI: 0.68, 0.91], when compared with no use of statins. We found an association between statin use and lung cancer risk in men in Taiwan

Occult Interpositional Rotator Cuff - an Extremely Rare Case of Traumatic Rotator Cuff Tear

Traumatic interposition of a rotator cuff tendon in the glenohumeral joint without recognizable glenohumeral dislocation is an unusual complication after shoulder trauma. Here we report the clinical and imaging presentations of a 17-year-old man with trapped rotator cuff tendons in the glenohumeral joint after a bicycle accident. The possible trauma mechanism is also discussed.