Chinese herbal medicine reduced the risk of stroke in patients with Parkinson’s disease: A population-based retrospective cohort study from Taiwan

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has long been used in Asia to treat stroke, but there are no large-scale clinical data to confirm its efficacy in protecting PD patients against stroke. Herein, we analyzed a cohort of 1,000,000 records from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database for the period 1997–2011, and identified 1,882 patients with new-onset PD. We matched 290 patients who received Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) by age, sex, year of CHM prescription, and year of PD diagnosis with 290 patients who did not use CHM as control. Both cohorts were followed until the end of 2013 for the incidence of new-onset stroke. In a multivariable Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for potential comorbidities, the incidence of stroke was lower among PD patients using CHM compared with non-CHM users (11.10 per 100 person-years vs 23.15 per 100 person-years; Hazard ratio: 0.56; 95% confidence interval: 0.44 to 0.72). The probability curve generated from our follow-up data showed that PD patients receiving CHM treatment had a decreased risk of stroke compared with those not receiving CHM treatment (P <0.001). The analysis on the prescription pattern of CHM revealed that Danshen is the most common single herb and Ma Zi Ren Wan is the most common herbal formula. Although the analysis are limited by a lack of analytic information regarding lifestyle patterns, biochemical profiles, and levels of PD severity in database, this population-based study suggest that CHM may be an complementary therapy to reduce the risk of stroke in PD patients.

Acupuncture Decreased the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Patients with Osteoarthritis in Taiwan: A Nationwide Matched Cohort Study

“…36 Our data suggest that OA-acupuncture cohort was significantly less costly to care for and our finding is similar to other Taiwanese reports that showed that TCM services are associated with lowest medical expenditure. 37,38 Limited physical activity, which is mainly caused by OA of the hip or knee, is considered a known risk factor for CHD. 39 At the same time, there is evidence to support the use of exercise to improve the damage of the joints and alleviate pain.…”

Traditional Chinese Medicine Reduces the Incidence of Chemotherapy-Induced Stroke: A Five-Year Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study From Taiwan

“…Our analysis also considered comorbidities that cause a stroke. According to previous studies ( Lai et al, 2018 ; Jang et al, 2019 ), we selected the following comorbidities related to stroke: hyperlipidemia (ICD-9-CM code 272); diabetes mellitus (ICD-9-CM code 250); hypertensive disease (ICD-9-CM codes 401–405); coronary heart disease (ICD-9-CM codes 410–414); acute pulmonary heart disease (ICD-9-CM code 415); cardiac dysrhythmia (ICD-9-CM code 427); congestive heart failure (ICD-9-CM code 428); atherosclerosis (ICD-9-CM code 440); peripheral vascular disease (ICD-9-CM code 443.9); and other venous embolism and thrombosis (ICD-9-CM code 453). Patients with stroke were identified using ICD-9-CM codes 430 to 438.…”

UHPLC-MS-based metabolomics and chemoinformatics study reveals the neuroprotective effect and chemical characteristic in Parkinson’s disease mice after oral administration of Wen-Shen-Yang-Gan decoction

“…However, AGING none of the therapeutic agents in previously could slow down the loss of neuronal cells so as to decelerate or halt the progression of PD [4,5]. Levodopa-resistant symptoms even conduce to disability and significantly increase the risk of all-cause mortality [6]. Thereby, it is crucial and urgent to search appropriate therapeutic agents with better treatments for PD with western medicine.…”