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Type II diabetes mellitus and the incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Journal of Neurology volume 266, pages 2233–2243 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and ALS incidence using the National Health Insurance Research Database and Serious Disabling Disease database of Taiwan.

Methods

This was a population-based cohort study. The index date was the date of the first T2DM diagnosis + 365 days. We included T2DM patients diagnosis between 2000 and 2013 (n = 2,135,427). These patients were matched by sex, age, urbanization, and insurance premium at a ratio of 1:1 to include patients without diabetes mellitus. Competing risk-adjusted Cox regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between T2DM and the incidence of ALS.

Results

In the patients not stratified by age, T2DM was not associated with the incidence of ALS after controlling for confounding factors. The interaction test of age subgroup (< 55 and ≥ 55 years) and T2DM on ALS risk was significance (p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that T2DM was negatively associated with ALS in patients whose age at the first T2DM diagnosis was ≥ 55 years. Among T2DM patients, T2DM combined with hypertension was negatively associated with ALS among patients whose age at the first T2DM diagnosis was ≥ 55 years. Among T2DM patients, T2DM combined with hyperlipidemia was positively associated with ALS among patients whose age at the first T2DM diagnosis was < 55 years.

Conclusions

The late-onset of T2DM may exert negative association with ALS, especially when combined with hypertension. The early-onset of T2DM may exert positive association with ALS, especially when combined with hyperlipidemia.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Charles Tzu-Chi Lee had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. This study was supported by grants from the Taiwan Motor Neuron Disease Association (TMND). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Dr. Ching-Piao Tsai and Dr. Johnny Kuang-Wu Lee contributed equally in this study.

Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Ching-Piao Tsai

  2. Beito Health Management Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ching-Piao Tsai

  3. General Education Center, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan

    Johnny Kuang-Wu Lee

  4. Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, 162, He-ping East Road, Section 1, Taipei, 106, Taiwan

    Charles Tzu-Chi Lee

Authors
  1. Ching-Piao Tsai
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  2. Johnny Kuang-Wu Lee
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  3. Charles Tzu-Chi Lee
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Contributions

CPT: developing the concept and design of the study; interpretation of data; and writing the first draft. JKWL: developing the concept and design of the study; interpretation of data; and writing the first draft. CTCL: acquisition of data; developing the concept and design of the study; analyzing of data; and writing the first draft.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles Tzu-Chi Lee.

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All the authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Cite this article

Tsai, CP., Lee, J.KW. & Lee, C.TC. Type II diabetes mellitus and the incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Neurol 266, 2233–2243 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-019-09405-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-019-09405-x

Keywords

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
  • National Health Insurance Database
  • Serious Disabling Disease Database
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Cohort study