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Background. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) relieves associated symptoms of hyperthyroidism such as heat intolerance, palpitations, tremor, anxiety, weight loss, increased frequency of bowel movements, and shortness of breath. However, there are no studies regarding the core prescription patterns of herbal formula and single herbs for hyperthyroidism in Taiwan. Materials and Methods. This is a retrospective, observational study using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan to analyze the prescription patterns of TCM. Demographic factors, such as sex, age, occupational status, and residential area, and the risk factors for hyperthyroidism were also studied. Results. The outpatient or/and inpatient services for hyperthyroidism receive 17,707 cases in a year. Overall, there were 13,394 newly diagnosed patients. TCM was used in 73% of the patients, and 77.3% of the patients were females. The acceptability of TCM was higher among female patients. Most patients were diagnosed with hyperthyroidism between the ages of 30 and 49 years. The most common comorbidity identified was diabetes mellitus. The most commonly prescribed Chinese herbal product (CHP) formula was Jia-Wei-Xia-Yao-San, while Xia-Ku-Cao was the most commonly prescribed single CHP. There was a high coprescription rate for Xuan-Shen, Bei-Mu, and Mu-Li. Conclusion. This study describes the core prescription pattern of TCM used in the treatment of patients with hyperthyroidism in Taiwan. The most frequently used CHPs could be potential candidates for future pharmacologic studies or clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The changes of the risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in patients with end-stage renal disease after parathyroidectomy are scant. Methods: We used a nationwide health insurance claims database to select all dialysis-dependent patients with end-stage renal disease aged 18 years and older for the study population in 2000 to 2006. Of the patients with end-stage renal disease, we selected 947 patients who had undergone parathyroidectomy as the parathyroidectomy group and frequency matched 3746 patients with end-stage renal disease by sex, age, years since the disease diagnosis, and the year of index date as the non-parathyroidectomy group. We used a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis with the use of a robust sandwich covariance matrix estimate, accounting for the intra-cluster dependence of hospitals or clinics, to measure the risk of peripheral arterial disease for the parathyroidectomy group compared with the non-parathyroidectomy group after adjusting for sex, age, premium-based income, urbanization, and comorbidity. Results: The mean post-op follow-up periods were 5.08 and 4.52 years for the parathyroidectomy and non-parathyroidectomy groups, respectively; the incidence density rate of PAD in the PTX group was 12.26 per 1000 person-years, significantly lower than the data in the non-PTX group (24.09 per 1000 person-years, adjusted HR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.46–0.94). Conclusion: Parathyroidectomy is associated with reduced risk of peripheral arterial disease in patients with end-stage renal disease complicated with severe secondary hyperparathyroidism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine the association of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and the risk of herpes zoster (HZ). Methods: In this cohort study, we selected 4736 patients with T1DM registered in the Catastrophic Illness Patient Database who received insulin therapy before 2003 and 18944 participants without DM who were selected by frequency matched based on sex and age. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to measure the hazard ratios (HRs) of HZ in the T1DM group compared with that in the non-T1DM group. Results: Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that the adjusted HR of HZ was 2.38 times higher for patients in the T1DM group (95% CI = 1.77–3.19) than for those in the non-T1DM group. According to diabetes severity, mild and serious T1DM patients were associated with a higher risk of HZ (adjusted HR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.67–3.05; and adjusted HR = 5.08, 95% CI = 2.66–9.71, respectively) than subjects without T1DM. Conclusion: Patients with T1DM are at a higher risk of HZ than those without T1DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]