Acupoint stimulation for long COVID: A promising intervention: 穴位刺激治疗长新冠:一种有前景的干预措施

“Long COVID” is a sustained symptom following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). According to recent statistics, at least 65 million people have long COVID, which poses a long-term threat to human health. The pathogenic mechanisms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are complex and affect multiple organs and systems. Common symptoms include palpitations, breathing difficulties, attention and memory deficits, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. It is difficult to achieve satisfactory treatment effect with a single intervention. Currently, treatment strategies for long COVID are still in the exploratory stage, and there is an urgent need to find appropriate and effective methods for long COVID treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine is effective in treating the various phases of COVID-19. Previous studies have shown that acupoint stimulation therapy is effective in improving palpitations, dyspnea, cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms in patients. According to previous studies, acupoint stimulation may improve various symptoms related to long COVID. This paper discusses the potential application value of acupoint stimulation in the treatment of long COVID-related symptoms, based on the common sequelae of various systems involved in long COVID, and the effect of acupoint stimulation in the treatment of similar symptoms and diseases in recent years.     

To What Extent Do Local Nursing Home Prescribing Patterns Relate to Psychotropic Prescribing in Assisted Living?

ObjectiveIn nursing homes (NHs), psychoactive medication use has received notable attention, but less is known about prescribing in assisted living (AL). This study examined how antipsychotic and antianxiety medication prescribing in AL compares with NHs.DesignObservational, cross-sectional AL data linked to publicly reported NH measures.Setting and ParticipantsRandom sample of 250 AL communities and the full sample of 3371 NHs in 7 states.MethodsWe calculated the percentage of residents receiving antipsychotics and antianxiety medications. For each AL community, we calculated the distance to NHs in the state. Linear models estimated the relationship between AL prescribing and that of the closest and farthest 5 NHs, adjusting for AL characteristics and state fixed effects.ResultsThe prescribing rate of potentially inappropriate antipsychotics (i.e., excluding for persons with recorded schizophrenia and Tourette syndrome) and of antianxiety medications (excluding for those on hospice) in AL was 15% and 21%, respectively. Unadjusted mean antipsychotic prescribing rates were nominally higher in AL than NHs (14.8% vs 14.6%; P = .056), whereas mean antianxiety prescribing was nominally lower in AL (21.2% vs 22.6%; P = .032). In adjusted analyses, AL rates of antipsychotic use were not associated with NH rates. However, being affiliated with an NH was associated with a lower rate of antipsychotic use [b = −0.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.50 to −0.001; P = .043], whereas antianxiety rates were associated with neighboring NHs’ prescribing rates (b = 0.43; 95% CI 0.16–0.70; P = .002).Conclusions and ImplicationsThis study suggests reducing antipsychotic medication use in NHs may influence AL practices in a way not accounted for by local NH patterns. And, because antianxiety medications have not been the focus of national campaigns, they may be more subject to local prescribing behaviors. It seems advantageous to consider prescribing in AL when efforts are implemented to change NH prescribing, as there seems to be related influence whether by affiliation or region.     

广西壮族自治区多地区长寿人群分布特征及其相关因素研究

目的探索我国典型长寿地区人群中与健康长寿的相关因素,为老年人群的健康长寿提供有价值的参考数据。方法采用登记和入户问卷调查方法收集和解析广西壮族自治区桂林市永福县、河池市巴马县和防城港市东兴市长寿老人(≥90岁)的人口学基本特征;然后在当地一般人群中,随机选取年龄组对照(40~85岁)。分别对比长寿和对照人群的性别、民族、家族史、疾病史、婚姻状况、家庭代数和子女数、吸烟、饮酒、外出活动、睡眠等与健康长寿相关因素进行关联分析。结果在巴马县、永福县和东兴市常住人口69.15万人中,共登记有≥90岁者1005例(≥90岁率:145.34/10万),其中≥90岁和<100岁(长寿)者944例(长寿率:136.51/10万),年龄(93.28±2.57)岁;≥100岁者61例(百岁率:8.82/10万),年龄(102.00±3.05)岁。长寿和百岁比较仅有3个因素如,地区分布(P=0.014)、无疾病史(P=0.002)和家庭代数(P=0.008)有显著关联。表明长寿和百岁人群可能是同一群体,合并两者将长寿+百岁和对照比较,与健康长寿有显著关联的因素有已婚(OR=26.469,95%CI:13.208~53.045)、家庭代数(OR=5.419,95%CI:3.418~8.592)、儿子数(OR=2.013,95%CI:1.555~2.607)、女儿数(OR=1.380,95%CI:1.122~1.696)和外出活动(OR=10.226,95%CI:3.164~33.045)。结论广西壮族自治区巴马县、永福县和东兴市一般自然人群中长寿和百岁率较高;可能得益于多子女和多代的家庭结构,并且乐观的心态、运动和生活规律均可能是其中重要的健康长寿关联因素。     

滇龙胆草对肺纤维化小鼠肺组织NF-κB和CTGF表达的影响

  目的  研究滇龙胆草对肺纤维化小鼠肺组织NF-κB和CTGF表达的影响。  方法  气管滴注博莱霉素（5 mg/kg ）制备昆明小鼠肺纤维化模型，造模后灌胃给予低、中、高剂量（50、100、200 mg/kg）的滇龙胆草，每日给药1次，设比非尼酮为阳性对照。在建模后第28天，取肺组织进行检测，肉眼观察肺组织大体病理改变，Masson染色观察肺组织纤维化程度；采用Western blot检测肺组织中NF-κB和CTGF蛋白的表达。  结果  与模型组比较，不同剂量的滇龙胆草组和阳性药物比非尼酮组小鼠肺组织胶原沉积明显减少。与模型组比较，不同剂量的滇龙胆草组和阳性药物比非尼酮组小鼠肺组织NF-κB和CTGF蛋白表达明显下调，差异有统计学意义（P < 0.05）。  结论  滇龙胆草具有抗肺纤维化作用，其机制与下调NF-κB和CTGF蛋白表达，减轻肺组织炎症和胶原沉积有关。     

Depression,functional disability and quality of life among Nigerian older adults: Prevalences and relationships

BackgroundAgeing is associated with increased morbidity, depression and decline in function. These may consequently impair the quality of life (QoL) of older adults.PurposeThis study was used to investigate the prevalence of functional disability, depression, and level of quality of life of older adults residing in Uyo metropolis and its environs, Nigeria.MethodThis cross sectional survey involved 206 (116 females and 90 males) older adults with mean age of 69.8 ± 6.7. The World Health Organization Quality of Life-OLD, Functional status Questionnaire (FSQ) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were used to measure quality of life, functional disability and depression respectively. Data was analysed using frequency counts and percentages and Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient, at 0.05 alpha level.Results45.5% of participants had depression, and at least 30% had functional disability in at least one domain, but their quality of life was fairly good (>60.0%) across all domains. Significant correlation existed between depression scores and individual quality of life and functional disability domains and between overall QoL and each functional disability domain (p < 0.001).ConclusionsDepression and functional disability were quite prevalent among sampled older adults but their QOL was not too severely affected. Since the constructs were interrelated, it seems interventions targeted at depression and functional status may invariably enhance the quality of life of the older adults.