Browsing by Author "Lin, Hui-Wen"

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Blepharitis as an early sign of metabolic syndrome: a nationwide population-based study
(2018-09-01)
Lee, Chia-Yi
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Chen, Hung-Chi
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Lin, Hui-Wen
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Huang, Jing-Yang
;
Chao, Shih-Chun
Background To investigate the relationship between blepharitis and metabolic syndrome (MetS) by using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) of Taiwan. Methods This retrospective cohort study was conducted using data collected from the LHID for the period from 2009 to 2013. This study enrolled patients who received a diagnosis of blepharitis according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, diagnostic code. The exclusion criteria were legal blindness, eyeball removal, ocular tumours prior to the diagnosis of blepharitis, and patients diagnosed with blepharitis and initiated antibiotic treatment concurrently. An age-matched, gender-matched and disease-matched population without blepharitis served as the control group. Multivariate analysis with a multiple Cox regression model was applied to analyse the data. Results In this study, a total of 10 093 patients with blepharitis were included in the study group, and another 40 372 participants without blepharitis were included in the control group. Conditional logistic regression revealed a higher cumulative probability of hyperlipidaemia and coronary arterial disease. After adjustment, patients with blepharitis had a higher probability of developing new MetS than controls. According to subgroup analysis, hyperlipidaemia and coronary artery diseases were significantly correlated with the prior development of blepharitis. However, hypertension and diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance showed no correlation with blepharitis. Conclusion Blepharitis is significantly related to MetS and can serve as an early sign of MetS. Additional studies should examine the relationship between blepharitis and MetS in terms of severity.
Lovastatin lowers the risk of breast cancer: a population-based study using logistic regression with a random effects model
(2016-11-08)
Murakami, Rimi
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Chen, Chiehfeng
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Lyu, Shu-Yu
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Lin, Ching-En
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Tzeng, Pei-Chuan
Background: Laboratory studies have demonstrated statin-induced apoptosis of cancer cells, including breast cancer cells, and evidence is accumulating on the mechanism of statin-induced apoptosis. However, despite numerous epidemiological studies, no consensus has been reached regarding the relationship between statin use and breast cancer risk. Methods: This retrospective case-control study enrolled 4332 breast cancer patients and 21,660 age-matched controls registered in the National Health Insurance program of Taiwan, which covers approximately 99% of the population. The study cases were women for whom a diagnosis of breast cancer (ICD-9-CM code 174. X) had been recorded in LHID2005 between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2010. A logistic regression model was adjusted for potential confounding factors, including the level of urbanization, and the Charlson Comorbidity Index was applied to assess potential comorbidities. We also considered possible bias caused by random urbanization, because nutrition and lifestyle factors are related to breast cancer incidence. Results: Our results showed that lovastatin was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer (adjusted OR 0.596; 95% CI 0.497-0.714; p < 0.001), and atorvastatin exhibited a protective tendency against breast cancer (adjusted OR 0.887; 95% CI 0.776-1.013; p < 0.077). Conclusions: Although no consensus has been established regarding the relationship between statin use and breast cancer risk, our study indicated that lovastatin is a potential chemopreventive agent against breast cancer. Further detailed research is warranted.