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Chang WC, Livneh H, Chen WJ, Hsieh CC, Wang YH, Lu MC, Guo HR, Tsai TY. Adding Chinese Herbal Medicine to Routine Care is Associated With a Lower Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis Among Patients With Asthma: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:895717. [PMID: 36059972 PMCID: PMC9431954 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.895717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: Due to the shared pathogenesis of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), patients with asthma were found to have a higher risk of RA. While the benefits and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for asthma have been reported, the scientific evidence regarding its effect on RA is limited. This longitudinal cohort study aimed to determine the relation between CHM use and RA risk in patients with asthma.Methods: Using the nationwide claims data, we enrolled 33,963 patients 20–80 years of age who were newly diagnosed with asthma and simultaneously free of RA between 2000 and 2007. From this sample, we utilized propensity score matching to create sets of participants as treatment and control groups, which comprised 13,440 CHM users and 13,440 non-CHM users. The incidence rate and hazard ratio (HR) for RA between the two groups were estimated at the end of 2013. A Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to examine the impact of the CHM use on the risk of RA.Results: The cumulative incidence of RA was substantially lower in the CHM user group. In the follow-up period, 214 patients in the CHM user group (1.92 per 1,000 person-years) and 359 patients in the non-CHM user group (2.92 per 1,000 person-years) developed RA (adjusted HR = 0.63, 95% confidence interval: 0.54–0.75). Of the commonly-prescribed formulae, nine CHM products were associated with a lower RA risk: Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang, Ma-Xing-Gan-Shi-Tang, Ding-Chuan-Tang, Xin-Yi-Qing-Fei-Tang, Bei Mu, Jie Geng, Xing Ren, Da Huang, and San Chi.Conclusion: This study found that patients with asthma who received CHM treatment, in addition to the conventional therapy, had a lower risk of RA. Use of CHM treatment may be integrated into conventional therapy to reduce subsequent RA risk among asthma patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Chiao Chang
- Department of Chinese Medicine, Dalin Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan
| | - Hanoch Livneh
- Rehabilitation Counseling Program, Portland State University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Wei-Jen Chen
- Department of Chinese Medicine, Dalin Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Sports Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan
- Center of Sports Medicine, Dalin Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan
| | - Chang-Cheng Hsieh
- Department of Family Medicine, Dalin Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Han Wang
- Center of Sports Medicine, Dalin Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Chi Lu
- Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Dalin Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan
- *Correspondence: Ming-Chi Lu, ; How-Ran Guo, ; Tzung-Yi Tsai,
| | - How-Ran Guo
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan
- Occupational Safety, Health and Medicine Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- *Correspondence: Ming-Chi Lu, ; How-Ran Guo, ; Tzung-Yi Tsai,
| | - Tzung-Yi Tsai
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Nursing, Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology, Hualien, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Research, Dalin Tzuchi Hospital, The Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation, Chiayi, Taiwan
- *Correspondence: Ming-Chi Lu, ; How-Ran Guo, ; Tzung-Yi Tsai,
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