Impact of traditional Chinese medicine on age trajectories of health: evidence from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging

Television watching, reading, cognition, depression and life satisfaction among middle-aged and older populations: A group-based trajectory modelling analysis of national data

This retrospective cohort study aimed to identify heterogeneous cognition, depression, and life satisfaction trajectory groups, and to examine the independent contributions of watching television and reading to these trajectories among middle-aged and older adults. A sample was taken from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA) with measures of cognition, depression, life satisfaction, watching television, and reading during 12 years of follow-up (N = 4440). Group-based trajectory models and multinomial logistic regressions were used. The findings showed that the cohort was separated into three global cognition groups of low-cognition (n = 376), declining-cognition (n = 805), and maintained-cognition (n = 2718); three episodic memory groups of high-declining (n = 540), middle-stable (n = 2066), and improving groups (n = 1293); three depression groups of low-to-low (n = 2571), median-to-high (n = 960), and high-to-high groups (n = 368); and three life satisfaction groups of low- (n = 1133), middle- (n = 977), and high-level groups (n = 1789). Also, the findings demonstrated that after adjusting for covariates, those who did not watch television or read at the baseline had independently significantly increased odds of having lower global cognitive function, higher depression, and lower life satisfaction over time versus those who watched television or read almost every day. Based on the findings obtained, group-based trajectories of cognition, depression, and life satisfaction scores identified distinct subgroups among TLSA participants. Moreover, the findings suggest that healthcare providers need to develop more targeted population interventions to ensure successful aging. Healthcare providers can encourage older adults, particularly new retirees, to participate in leisure activities (i.e., watching television and reading) to reduce prevalence rates of cognitive impairment and depression.

Antiaging effect of a Jianpi-yangwei formula in Caenorhabditis elegans

Background

Jianpi-yangwei (JPYW), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), helps to nourish the stomach and spleen and is primarily used to treat functional declines related to aging. This study aimed to explore the antiaging effects and mechanism of JPYW by employing a Caenorhabditis elegans model.

Methods

Wild-type C. elegans N2 worms were cultured in growth medium with or without JPYW, and lifespan analysis, oxidative and heat stress resistance assays, and other aging-related assays were performed. The effects of JPYW on the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the expression of specific genes were examined to explore the underlying mechanism of JPYW.

Results

Compared to control worms, JPYW-treated wild-type worms showed increased survival times under both normal and stress conditions (P < 0.05). JPYW-treated worms also exhibited enhanced reproduction, movement and growth and decreased intestinal lipofuscin accumulation compared to controls (P < 0.05). Furthermore, increased activity of SOD, downregulated expression levels of the proaging gene clk-2 and upregulated expression levels of the antiaging genes daf-16, skn-1, and sir-2.1 were observed in the JPYW group compared to the control group.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that JPYW extends the lifespan of C. elegans and exerts antiaging effects by increasing the activity of an antioxidant enzyme (SOD) and by regulating the expression of aging-related genes. This study not only indicates that this Chinese compound exerts antiaging effects by activating and repressing target genes but also provides a proven methodology for studying the biological mechanisms of TCMs.

Liangyi Gao extends lifespan and exerts an antiaging effect in Caenorhabditis elegans by modulating DAF-16/FOXO

Liangyi Gao (LYG), a traditional Chinese medicine, is composed of Ginseng and Radix Rehmanniae Preparata, both of which have been shown to have antiaging properties. In Eastern countries, LYG is used to delay functional declines related to aging and has an obvious antiaging effect in clinical practice. However, little data from evidence-based medicine is available regarding whether LYG is beneficial overall, particularly with respect to lifespan, and how LYG functions. To address these issues, Caenorhabditis elegans, a useful organism for such studies, was employed to explore the antiaging effect and mechanism of LYG in this study. The results showed that LYG could obviously extend lifespan and slow aging-related declines in N2 wild-type C. elegans. To further characterize these antiaging effects and stress resistance, reproductive tests and other aging-related tests were performed. We found that LYG enhanced resistance against oxidative and thermal stress, reproduction, pharynx pumping, motility and growth in N2 wild-type C. elegans. In addition, we analyzed the mechanism for these effects by measuring the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the expression levels of aging-related genes. We found that LYG enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes and upregulated the genes daf-16, sod-3 and sir-2.1, which mediated stress resistance and longevity. In conclusion, LYG had robust and reproducible life-prolonging and antiaging benefits in C. elegans via DAF-16/FOXO regulation.

Traditional Chinese Medical Care and Incidence of Stroke in Elderly Patients Treated with Antidiabetic Medications

Objectives: Experimental research has shown that herbal and traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) may serve as complements to Western medicine treatments in the control of blood glucose and cardiovascular complications, but population-based studies are limited. We investigated the association between TCM use and subsequent risk of stroke in older patients with diabetes. Study design: The database used in this cohort study contained longitudinal medical claims for one million subjects randomly selected among beneficiaries of a universal health care program in Taiwan. We identified a cohort of patients with diabetes aged 65 years and older who initiated anti-diabetic medications from 2000 to 2012. Patients who had at least two TCM outpatient visits after their initiation of anti-diabetic medications were considered TCM users. Main outcome measures: The incidence of stroke was measured until 2013. Cox regression models with TCM use as a time-dependent variable were used to calculate the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) comparing TCM use with no use. Results: Over the 13-year period, 17,015 patients were identified; 4912 (28.9%) of them were TCM users. The incidence of stroke during the follow-up (per 1000 person-years) was 22.8 in TCM users and 25.7 in non-users. TCM users had an adjusted HR of 0.93 for the incidence of ischemic stroke (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.83, 1.04) and of 0.89 for developing hemorrhagic stroke (95% CI 0.66, 1.19), compared with non-users. Conclusions: In this study, in older patients receiving Western medicine treatments for diabetes, TCM use was not associated with an increased risk of developing ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.

A Population-Based Cohort Study on the Ability of Acupuncture to Reduce Post-Stroke Depression

Objective: Post-stroke depression (PSD) is common and has a negative impact on recovery. Although many stroke patients in Taiwan have used acupuncture as a supplementary treatment for reducing stroke comorbidities, little research has been done on the use of acupuncture to prevent PSD. Accordingly, our goal is to investigate whether using acupuncture after a stroke can reduce the risk of PSD. Method: This population-based cohort study examined medical claims data from a random sample of 1 million insured people registered in Taiwan. Newly diagnosed stroke patients in the period 2000–2005 were recruited in our study. All patients were followed through to the end of 2007 to determine whether they had developed symptoms of depression. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the relative risk of depression in patients after being diagnosed as having had a stroke, with a focus on the differences in those with and without acupuncture treatment. Results: A total of 8487 newly-diagnosed stroke patients were included in our study; of these, 1036 patients received acupuncture more than five times following their stroke, 1053 patients received acupuncture 1–5 times following their stroke and 6398 did not receive acupuncture. After we controlled for potential confounders (e.g., age, sex, insurance premium, residential area, type of stroke, length of hospital stay, stroke severity index, rehabilitation and major illness–related depression), we found that acupuncture after stroke significantly reduced the risk of depression, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.475 (95% CI, 0.389–0.580) in frequent acupuncture users and 0.718 (95% CI, 0.612–0.842) in infrequent acupuncture users, indicating that acupuncture may lower the risk of PSD by an estimated 52.5% in frequent users and 28.2% in infrequent users. Conclusions: After we controlled for potential confounders, it appears that using acupuncture after a stroke lowers the risk of depression. Additional strictly-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to better understand the specific mechanisms relating acupuncture to health outcomes.

Anti-Aging Effect of Siraitia grosuenorii by Enhancement of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Function

Anti-aging has always been a popular topic, and there are many claims about the existence of factors that can slow, stop, or even reverse the aging process. Siraitia grosuenorii, a local fruit in china, has been used for the treatment of gastritis, sore throats, and whooping cough in traditional Chinese medicine. The individuals who took the juice of Siraitia grosuenorii regularly had increased longevity in the Guangxi Province, which is located in the Southern part of China. In this paper, we fed mice with Siraitia grosuenorii for 10 months to identify the role of Siraitia grosuenorii in anti-aging and to investigate its corresponding mechanism. The results showed that mice fed with Siraitia grosuenorii displayed a slower aging process. The extension of the aging process was due to the enhanced function of HSCs. FACS analysis showed that the number of LSKs, LT-HSCs, ST-HSCs and MPPs from Siraitia grosuenorii mice was decreased. In vitro, a clonigenic assay showed that LT-HSCs from Siraitia grosuenorii mice increased the ability of self-renewal. Moreover, Siraitia grosuenorii mice maintained the quiescence of LSKs, decreased the level of ROS and reduced the amount of senescence associated β-gal positive cells. Furthermore, Siraitia grosuenorii mice decreased the expression of senescence-associated proteins. Siraitia grosuenorii maintained quiescence, decreased senescence and enhanced the function of HSCs, slowing the aging process of mice.