Sarcopenia is a progressive and generalized skeletal muscle disorder associated with poor health outcomes in older adults. However, its association with the risk of fracture risk is yet to be clarified. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the incidence and consequence of osteoporosis-related fractures among patients with sarcopenia in Taiwan. A retrospective, population-based study on 616 patients with sarcopenia, aged >40 years, and 1232 individuals without sarcopenia was conducted to evaluate claims data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database collected in the period January 2000–December 2013. The incidence rate of osteoporosis-related fracture was 18.13 and 14.61 per 1000 person years in the patients with sarcopenia and comparison cohort, respectively. Patients with sarcopenia had a greater osteoporotic fracture risk (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47–3.04) after correcting for possible confounding. Additionally, females showed statistically significant correlations of sarcopenia with osteoporosis-related fracture risk (HR 1.53; CI 0.83–2.8 for males and HR 2.40, CI 1.51–3.81 for females). During this retrospective study on the fracture risk in Taiwan, an adverse impact of sarcopenia was observed, which substantiates the need to work toward sarcopenia prevention and interventions to reverse fracture susceptibility in patients with sarcopenia.
Particulate matter and volatile organic compounds, including total hydrocarbons (THCs), are major ambient air pollutants. Primary nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) originate from vehicle emissions. The association between air pollution and urinary bladder cancer (UBC) is debatable. We investigated whether long-term exposure to ambient hydrocarbons increases UBC risk among people aged ≥ 20 years in Taiwan. Linkage dataset research with longitudinal design was conducted among 589,135 initially cancer-free individuals during 2000–2013; 12 airborne pollutants were identified. Several Cox models considering potential confounders were employed. The study outcomes were invasive or in situ UBC incidence over time. The targeted pollutant concentration was divided into three tertiles: T1/T2/T3. The mean age of individuals at risk was 42.5 (SD 15.7), and 50.5% of the individuals were men. The mean daily average over 10 years of airborne THC concentration was 2.25 ppm (SD 0.13), and NMHC was 0.29 ppm (SD 0.09). Both pollutants show long-term monotonic downward trend over time using the Mann–Kendall test. There was a dose-dependent increase in UBC at follow-up. UBC incidence per 100,000 enrollees according to T1/T2/T3 exposure to THC was 60.9, 221.2, and 651.8, respectively; it was 170.0/349.5/426.7 per 100,000 enrollees, corresponding to T1/T2/T3 exposure to NMHC, respectively. Without controlling for confounding air pollutants, the adjusted hazard ratio (adj.HR) was 1.83 (95% CI 1.75–1.91) per 0.13-ppm increase in THC; after controlling for PM2.5, adj.HR was even higher at 2.09 (95% CI 1.99–2.19). The adj.HR was 1.37 (95% CI 1.32–1.43) per 0.09-ppm increase in ambient NMHC concentration. After controlling for SO2 and CH4, the adj.HR was 1.10 (95% CI 1.06–1.15). Sensitivity analyses showed that UBC development risk was not sex-specific or influenced by diabetes status. Long-term exposure to THC and NMHC may be a risk factor for UBC development. Acknowledging pollutant sources can inform risk management strategies.
The cause of trigger fingers remains uncertain. High lipid levels in the blood may reduce blood supply to the distal fingers and promote inflammation. We aimed to explore the association between hyperlipidemia and trigger finger. A nationwide population-based cohort study using longitudinal data from 2000 to 2013, 41,421 patients were included in the hyperlipidemia cohort and 82,842 age- and sex-matched patients were included in the control cohort. The mean age was 49.90 ± 14.73 years in the hyperlipidemia cohort and 49.79 ± 14.71 years in the control cohort. After adjusting for possible comorbidities, the hazard ratio of trigger finger in the hyperlipidemia cohort was 4.03 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.57–4.55), with values of 4.59 (95% CI, 3.67–5.73) and 3.77 (95% CI, 3.26–4.36) among male and female patients, respectively. This large-scale population-based study demonstrated that hyperlipidemia is correlated to trigger finger.
BackgroundParticulate matter and volatile organic compounds, including total hydrocarbons (THCs), are major ambient air pollutants. The primary nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) originate from vehicle emissions. Studies on the association between air pollution and urinary bladder cancer (UBC) have revealed contradictory results.ObjectivesThe present study investigated whether long-term exposure to ambient hydrocarbons increases UBC risk among people aged ≥20 years in Taiwan.MethodsLinkage dataset research with longitudinal design was conducted on 600,666 cancer-free individuals from 2000–2013; 12 airborne pollutants were determined. Several Cox models considering potential confounders were employed. The study outcomes were invasive or in situ UBC incidence over time. The targeted pollutant concentration was divided into three tertiles: T1/T2/T3.ResultsThe mean age of the individuals at risk was 42.8 (SD, 15.7), and 50.2% were men. The mean daily average over 10-years of airborne THC concentration was 2.24 ppm (SD, 0.14), and NMHC was 0.29 ppm (SD, 0.09). There was a dose-dependent increase in UBC at follow-up. The incidence of UBC cases per 100,000 people by T1/T2/T3 exposure to THC was 60.3, 203.7, and 450.8, respectively; it was 180.2/202.4/453.8 per 100,000, corresponding to T1/T2/T3 exposure to NMHC, respectively. Without controlling for confounding air pollutants, the adjusted hazard ratio (adj.HR) was 1.77 (95% CI, 1.69–1.87) per 0.14 ppm increase of THC; after controlling for PM2.5, adj.HR was even higher at 2.10 (95% CI, 1.99– 2.22). The adj.HR was 1.38 (95% CI, 1.31–1.44) per 0.09 ppm increase in ambient NMHC concentration. After controlling for SO2 and CH4, the adj.HR was 1.16 (95% CI, 1.11–1.21). Sensitivity analyses showed that the UBC development risk was not sex-specific or influenced by diabetes status.DiscussionLong-term exposure to THC and NMHC may be a risk factor for UBC development. Acknowledging the pollutant sources can inform risk management strategies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.