Traditional Chinese Medicine Decreases the Stroke Risk of Systemic Corticosteroid Treatment in Dermatitis: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Abstract

Epidemiological studies have shown a strong association between dermatitis and stroke. Systemic corticosteroid, the mainstay treatment for dermatitis, could enhance the atherosclerotic process. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been used for dermatitis to decrease the side effects of corticosteroid. However, the different stroke risk in dermatitis patients treated with systemic corticosteroid or TCM remains unclear. This study identified 235,220 dermatitis patients and same comorbidity matched subjects between 2000 and 2009 from database of NHRI in Taiwan. The two cohorts were followed until December 31, 2011. The primary outcome of interest was new diagnosis of stroke. The crude hazard ratio (HR) for future stroke among dermatitis patients treated with systemic corticosteroid was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.34–1.45; P < 0.0001) and TCM was 1.09 (95% CI, 1.05–1.13; P < 0.0001). The log-rank test showed a higher cumulative incidence of ischemic stroke in the patient treated with only systemic corticosteroid group than that treated with systemic corticosteroid and TCM, only TCM, and neither systemic corticosteroid nor TCM in the matched cohort during the follow-up period (P < 0.0001). We demonstrated that patients treated with systemic corticosteroid had an increased risk of stroke and that the risk probably decreased by TCM treatment.

Relationship of atopic dermatitis with stroke and myocardial infarction

“…Finally, 12 articles were included in our meta-analysis. [13–24] The results of the study selection process are shown in Fig. 1.…”

“…During the past decade, research has suggested that AD is an allergic disease in which systemic inflammation involves more than just the skin, lots of epidemiologic observational studies have investigated the associations between AD and future stroke and/or MI. [13–24] However, the results are inconsistent. Some of these researches suggested that AD may increase the risk of stroke and/or MI incidence.…”

“…Some of these researches suggested that AD may increase the risk of stroke and/or MI incidence. [15,19,21,24] While several studies found that AD was not independently associated with increased risk of stroke and MI. [13,16,18] Furthermore, the different results of various studies showed that stroke type, sex, and severity of AD may affect the risk of stroke and/or MI independently.…”

Liver Governs Tendon: A Theory from Traditional Chinese Medicine—Evidence from a Population‐Based Matched Cohort Study in Taiwan for the Association of Chronic Liver Disease and Common Diseases in the Chiropractic Office

“…The diagnoses code was used from the International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision of the Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) in the database. Detailed description of the NHIRD was previously described [ 10 ].…”

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

“…Some researchers have found that PD is linked to an increased risk of stroke and a higher risk of stroke-related mortality [ 10 , 11 ]. However a number of studies have demonstrated that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) [ 12 – 15 ], acupuncture [ 16 , 17 ], and Tai Chi [ 18 ] improve impairments associated with neurologic sequelae. Since none of the currently available treatments for PD are specifically designed to prevent stroke, this therapeutic area presents an important unmet need.…”