Red yeast rice (RYR) has been used as an alternative treatment for hyperlipidemia. According to the previous studies, other compounds, besides monacolin K in RYR, may also reduce the serum lipid level. This study aims at examining the efficacy of monacolin K-rich and Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA)-rich RYR (Monascus pilosus) with regards to treating hyperlipidemia in a randomized control, double-blind clinical trial. In the research, we assigned 50 eligible subjects to monacolin K-rich RYR, GABA-rich RYR and placebo groups ([Formula: see text], 17, 17, respectively). The concentrations of TC, LDL-C, HDL, TG and blood biochemical data were evaluated at different phases: before applying (visit 1), after 1-month (visit 2), 2-month (visit 3), 3-month (visit 4) of providing the intervention and 1-month after ending the test food (visit 5) among three groups. During the 3-month intervention, the serum TC and LDL-C levels decreased significantly in the monacolin K group compared to the baseline and the other two groups. The Serum TG level declined steadily but was not statistically significant. Meanwhile, no marked differences in the serum HDL level were revealed among the three groups. Most safety assessment data had minor variation except two subjects (in monacolin K and GABA group separately) reported elevated liver enzymes. Monacolin K-rich RYR can reduce cholesterol as expected, while the GABA-rich RYR performed non-significant reduction on serum triglyceride. The research results demonstrate that using different concentrations and ratios between monacolin K and GABA could be beneficial for antihyperlipidemia.

This study examines the relationship between Facebook (FB) usage and addiction level, and sleep quality of university students. A Google Forms questionnaire was prepared and disseminated via the authors’ FB profile for university students to fill out. A total of 277, including two studying overseas, took part in this research. Among the survey respondents, over 60% ( n = 144) were medical students ( p = 0.000); over 30% ( n = 84) were always logged into FB; the average and daily usage time of most was 5 to 60 min at a time ( p = 0.009), and 3 to 5 h a day ( p = 0.040), respectively. The respondents’ average sleep time was 7.11 h, but over 61% categorized their sleep quality as poor. It was also found that students from financial and management school were 4.23 times more at risk of FB addiction than the medical counterparts and were likely to be already addicted to FB as well as have a sleep disorder. Based on these results, it is suggested that university students, who fall in the high-risk category, be screened early to prevent them from developing social media addiction and sleep disorders. For improving youths’ health and sleep quality, future research should attach the importance to early screening for sleep disturbances caused by the internet and social media addiction.