BackgroundAlthough some studies evaluated the effectiveness of massage therapy for fibromyalgia (FM), the role of massage therapy in the management of FM remained controversial.ObjectiveThe purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the evidence of massage therapy for patients with FM.MethodsElectronic databases (up to June 2013) were searched to identify relevant studies. The main outcome measures were pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance. Two reviewers independently abstracted data and appraised risk of bias. The risk of bias of eligible studies was assessed based on Cochrane tools. Standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by more conservative random-effects model. And heterogeneity was assessed based on the I2 statistic.ResultsNine randomized controlled trials involving 404 patients met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses showed that massage therapy with duration ≥5 weeks significantly improved pain (SMD, 0.62; 95% CI 0.05 to 1.20; p = 0.03), anxiety (SMD, 0.44; 95% CI 0.09 to 0.78; p = 0.01), and depression (SMD, 0.49; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.84; p = 0.005) in patients with FM, but not on sleep disturbance (SMD, 0.19; 95% CI −0.38 to 0.75; p = 0.52).ConclusionMassage therapy with duration ≥5 weeks had beneficial immediate effects on improving pain, anxiety, and depression in patients with FM. Massage therapy should be one of the viable complementary and alternative treatments for FM. However, given fewer eligible studies in subgroup meta-analyses and no evidence on follow-up effects, large-scale randomized controlled trials with long follow-up are warrant to confirm the current findings.

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Background: Numerous studies have examined the association between heavy metal contamination (including arsenic [As] [Pb], and zinc [Zn]) and lung cancer. However, data from previous studies on pathological cell types are limited, particularly regarding exposure to low-dose soil heavy metal contamination. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between soil heavy metal contamination and lung cancer incidence by specific cell type in Taiwan. Methods: We conducted an ecological study and calculated the annual averages of eight soil heavy metals (i.e., As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) by using data from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration from1982 to 1986. The age-standardized incidence rates of lung cancer according to two major pathological types (adenocarcinoma [AC] and squamous cell carcinoma [SCC]) were obtained from the National Cancer Registry Program conducted in Taiwan from 2001 to 2005. A geographical information system was used to plot the maps of soil heavy metal concentration and lung cancer incidence rates. Poisson regression models were used to obtain the adjusted relative ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the lung cancer incidence associated with soil heavy metals.

IntroductionThe potential effects of amalgam fillings on the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are not well understood. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between dental amalgam fillings and Alzheimer’s disease in Taiwanese population aged 65 and older.MethodsData were retrieved from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID 2005 and 2010). The study enrolled 1,943,702 beneficiaries from the LHID database. After excluding death cases and individuals aged 65 and under, 207,587 enrollees were finally involved in the study. Dental amalgam fillings are coded as 89001C, 89002C, 89003C, 89101C, 89102C, or 89103C in the national health insurance research database (NHIRD). Alzheimer’s disease was diagnosed using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes 331.0.ResultsIndividuals exposed to amalgam fillings had higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (odds ratio, OR = 1.105, 95 % confidence interval, CI = 1.025-1.190) than their non-exposed counterparts. Further analysis showed that the odds ratio of Ahlzheimer's disease was 1.07 (95 % CI = 0.962-1.196) in men and 1.132 (95 % CI = 1.022-1.254) in women.ConclusionsWomen who were exposed to amalgam fillings were 1.132 times more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease than were their non-exposed counterparts.

BackgroundTraditional lipid indices have been associated with type 2 diabetes, but it remains uncertain which lipid index is the best discriminator for diabetes. In this study, we aimed to assess lipoproteins, traditional lipid variables, and other variables to discover their association with diabetes in the Taiwanese population.MethodsData from a nationwide cross-sectional population-based survey of 3087 men and 3373 women in 2002 were analyzed in this study. All participants were assessed for anthropometry, glycosylated hemoglobin, fasting sugar and lipid profiles with triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) and B (ApoB). The ratio of LDL-C/HDL-C, ApoB/ApoA1, ApoB/LDL-C and ApoA1/HDL-C and other variables were analyzed to determine their potential roles in type 2 diabetes in the Taiwanese population. The Odds ratios (ORs) of the risk variables for diabetes were estimated using logistic regression and were adjusted for confounding factors.ResultsThe increased ratio of ApoA1/HDL-C was significantly associated with diabetes in men (top tertile vs. lowest: OR 2.98; 95% CI: 1.12 - 7.92; P-trend = 0.030) and women (top tertile vs. lowest: OR 2.15; 95% CI: 1.00 - 4.59; P-trend = 0.047). A modest increased diabetic risk was evident with ApoB/LDL-C in women (top tertile vs. lowest: OR 2.03; 95% CI: 1.07- 3.85; P-trend = 0.028), but not in men (top tertile v. lowest: OR 1.69; 95% CI: 0.79- 3.62; P-trend = 0.198).ConclusionsApoA1/HDL-C had a significant linear association with diabetes in both sexes and was superior to other lipid and lipoprotein variables among the general Taiwanese population.