In recent years, the reform of the registration, evaluation, and approval system for traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has been promoted at the national level, with establishment of an evaluation evidence system for TCM registration that combines TCM theory, human use experience, and clinical trials(known as the "three-combined" evaluation evidence system). This system, which aligns with the characteristics of TCM clinical practice and the laws of TCM research and development, recognizes the unique value of human use experience in medicine and returns to the essence of medicine as an applied science, thus receiving widespread recognition from both academia and industry. However, it meanwhile poses new and higher challenges. This article delves into the value and challenges faced by the "three-combined" evaluation evidence system from three perspectives: registration management, medical institutions, and the TCM industry. Furthermore, it discusses how the China Association of Chinese Medicine, leveraging its academic platform advantages and leading roles, has made exploratory and practical efforts to facilitate the research and development of new TCM drugs and the implementation of the "three-combined" evaluation evidence system.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/standards* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/standards* ; China ; Drug Development

Amid the global wave of digital economy, China's medical artificial intelligence applications are rapidly advancing through technological innovation and policy support, while facing multifaceted evaluation and regulatory challenges. The dynamic algorithm evolution undermines the consistency of assessment criteria, multimodal systems lack unified evaluation metrics, and conflicts persist between data sharing and privacy protection. To address these issues, the China National Health Development Research Center has established a value assessment framework for artificial intelligence medical technologies, formulated the country's first technical guideline for clinical evaluation, and validated their practicality through scenario-based pilot studies. Furthermore, this paper proposes introducing a "regulatory sandbox" model to test technical compliance in controlled environments, thereby balancing innovation incentives with risk governance.
Artificial Intelligence/legislation & jurisprudence* ; China ; Humans ; Algorithms

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between physical activity and genetic risk and their combined effects on the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included 318,085 biobank participants from the UK. Physical activity was assessed using the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The participants were stratified into low-, intermediate-, and high-genetic-risk groups based on their polygenic risk scores. Multivariate Cox regression models and multiplicative interaction analyses were used. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 13 years, 9,209 participants were diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. For low genetic risk, compared to low physical activity, the hazard ratios ( HRs) for moderate and high physical activity were 0.853 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: 0.748-0.972) and 0.831 (95% CI: 0.727-0.950), respectively. For intermediate genetic risk, the HRs were 0.829 (95% CI: 0.758-0.905) and 0.835 (95% CI: 0.764-0.914), respectively. For participants with high genetic risk, the HRs were 0.809 (95% CI: 0.746-0.877) and 0.818 (95% CI: 0.754-0.888), respectively. A significant interaction was observed between genetic risk and physical activity. CONCLUSION Moderate or high levels of physical activity were associated with a lower risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease across all genetic risk groups, highlighting the need to tailor activity interventions for genetically susceptible individuals.
Humans ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/epidemiology* ; Exercise ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Aged ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Risk Factors ; United Kingdom/epidemiology* ; Incidence ; Adult

Background::Studies that comprehensively address the characteristics of centenarian deaths are rare. The present study aimed to depict the characteristics of centenarian deaths in China and their changing trends.Methods::Data on centenarian deaths between 2013 and 2020 were obtained from the national mortality surveillance system of China, including date, place of death (PoD), and underlying cause of death (CoD). Descriptive analyses were performed to understand the epidemiological characteristics, and a joinpoint regression model was adopted to examine the changing trends in the proportions of different PoDs, CoDs among centenarians, and centenarian deaths accounting for all deaths and deaths among people aged 65 years and older.Results::There were 46,938 registered centenarian deaths between 2013 and 2020 that included 34,311 females (73.10%) and 12,627 males (26.90%). January (12.05%), February (9.99%), and December (9.74%) were the top three months with the highest number of deaths. The proportions of deaths that occurred in homes, hospitals, and nursing homes were 81.71%, 13.63%, and 2.68%, respectively. The proportion of deaths in nursing homes increased by 9.60% (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 6.4-12.9%) from 2014 to 2020. Heart disease (35.72%) was the leading cause of death, followed by respiratory diseases (17.63%), cerebrovascular disease (15.60%), and old age (11.22%). The proportion of respiratory diseases decreased by 4.8% (95% CI, -8.8 to -0.7%), and the proportion of deaths from old age decreased by 2.3 % (95% CI, -4.4 to -0.1%) per year. Shanghai had the highest proportions of deaths in hospitals (39.38%) and nursing homes (14.68%). Sichuan had the highest proportion of deaths attributed to respiratory diseases (32.30%), while Jiangsu (26.58%) and Zhejiang (23.61%) had the highest proportions of deaths from old age.Conclusion::Unlike other countries, centenarian deaths in China are characterized by a higher proportion of home and heart disease deaths, and this death pattern differs across provinces.

Objective:To investigate the impact of residual cholesterol (RC) on the progression of arteriosclerosis in individuals receiving physical examination.Methods:A cross-sectional study. Participants aged 18 years and above who underwent arteriosclerosis testing at the Health Management Center of Zigong Fourth People′s Hospital from January to December 2023 were selected as the subjects of the study. A total of 9 016 subjects were included in this study, of whom 6 213 were considered to have arteriosclerosis. The physical examination conclusions, basic information (age, gender, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, history of hypertension, history of smoking and drinking), and biochemical indicators (lipids, fasting blood glucose, liver and kidney function) were extracted in those individuals. Based on the examination results, the subjects were categorized into arteriosclerosis and normal groups. The RC levels of the participants were calculated using a formula and then the subjects were categorized into binary and quartile RC groups. Additionally, four regression models were used to analyze the impact of RC levels on the progression of arteriosclerosis while adjusting for various confounding factors.Results:The RC level was (0.63±0.44) mmol/L in the normal group and (0.76±0.61) mmol/L in the arteriosclerosis group. Based on level of RC, the normal group was divided into two subgroups: 652 individuals with elevated RC level and 2 241 with normal RC level. In the arteriosclerosis group, there were 2 069 individuals with elevated RC level and 4 144 with normal RC level. Grouped according to quartiles of RC level, the number of individuals with RC in the Q1-Q4 interval in the normal group was 838 (28.97%), 752 (25.99%), 760 (26.27%), and 543 (18.77%), respectively, showing a gradual decreasing trend. The number of individuals with RC in the Q1-Q4 interval in the arteriosclerosis group was 1 414 (22.76%), 1 438 (23.15%), 1 589 (25.58%), and 1 771 (28.51%), respectively, showing a gradual increasing trend. The difference between the groups was statistically significant ( P<0.05). After adjusting for various factors by four regression models, it was found that elevated RC levels increased the risk of arteriosclerosis progression, with a odds ratio ( OR) of 1.381, 1.242, 1.233, and 1.214, respectively. Additionally, individuals in the Q4 RC level quartile had 1.502, 1.318, 1.311, and 1.284-times higher risk of arteriosclerosis progression when compared to those in the Q1 quartile. Conclusion:The impact of RC on the progression of arteriosclerosis tend to stabilize and remain consistent, indicating that elevated RC is an independent risk factor for the progression of arteriosclerosis.

Objective:To systematically evaluate the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in elderly patients with depression.Methods:The randomized controlled trials on the effect of CBT in elderly patients with depression, published until December 15, 2022, were searched in PubMed, CINHAL, Cochrane Library, China Biology Medicine, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Data, and VIP. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and used the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized trials (ROB 2.0) to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Statistical analysis was conducted using Stata 16.0, and the quality of evidence was rated using Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (GRADE) predictor software.Results:A total of 11 randomized controlled trials were included, with a total of 833 elderly patients with depression. Randomized effect models were used to analyze outcome indicators such as depression, anxiety, and quality of life by combining effect quantities. Meta-analysis and GRADE evidence quality showed that compared to the control group, medium quality evidence showed that CBT could relieve depression in elderly depression patients with a statistical difference [ SMD=-1.58, 95% CI (-2.16, -0.99), P<0.05]. Low quality evidence suggested that CBT could alleviate anxiety in elderly depression patients also with a statistical difference [ SMD=-2.25, 95% CI (-4.04, -0.47), P<0.05]. Very low quality evidence indicated that CBT did not significantly improve the quality of life in elderly depression patients compared to conventional or pharmacological treatment [ SMD=-0.09, 95% CI (-2.07, 1.88), P>0.05] . Conclusions:Existing evidence suggests that CBT can alleviate depression and anxiety in elderly depression patients, but its improvement in quality of life is not yet significant. Treatment feedback and forms of CBT may become a research focus in recent years on intervention for elderly depression patients.

To investigate the existence of tick-borne pathogens infection of rodents at the border of China and the Demo-cratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK).PCR was used to detect the spotted fever group rickettsiae(SFGR)ompA gene,Ehrlichia chaffeensis(Ec)and Anaplasma phagocytophilum(Ap)16S rRNA,Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis(CNm)groEL gene,Bartonella(Ba)rpoB gene,and Francisella tularensis(Ft)fopA gene in rodents samples collected from Ji'an of Jilin province and Kuandian of Liaoning Province.The positivity rates of 132 wild rats spleen samples,SFGR,Ec,Ap,CNm,Ba,and Ft were 9.85％,12.88％,5.30％,3.79％,51.52％,and 6.06％,respectively,with statistical differences in in-fection rates(x2=149.236,P=0.000).The infection rate of Ba was the highest in wild rats in this area.There was no signifi-cant difference in the infection rate of SFGR,Ec,Ap,CNm,and Ft among different rats species,but there were significant differences in the infection rate of Ba(x2=13.36,P=0.010).The infection rate of Apodemus agrarius was the highest.A-mong 132 wild rats specimens,the coinfection rate of the two pathogens was 15.9％(21/132),with Ba as the main species(15/132),and two cases of coinfection with three pathogens were detected.The infection of six tick-borne pathogens is common in wild rats at the China/DPRK border.Co-infection of two or three pathogens indicates a risk of multiple tick-borne pathogens and mixed natural foci of multiple tick-borne infec-tious diseases.

Objective:To summarize and analyze the composition characteristics and problems of basic medical insurance policies for traditional Chinese medicine in various provinces of China,providing reference for optimizing and improving subsequent basic medical insurance policies for traditional Chinese medicine.Methods:Based on the perspective of policy instrument,combined with two dimensions of policy instrument types and policy development process,the content analysis method is used to quantitatively analyze the content of the basic medical insurance policies for traditional Chinese medicine released at the provincial level from 2011 to 2023.Results:The 93 included policy documents were coded and sorted,with a cumulative total of 487 codes.From the perspective of policy instrument dimensions,subcategories of policy instruments involve diverse themes,but there are differences in the level of attention paid to each policy tool.From the perspective of policy development process,each link also presents a discrete trend,indicating a dominant feature of policy planning and implementation.Conclusion:To improve the basic medical insurance policy system of traditional Chinese medicine in China,it is necessary to optimize the combination of policy instrument and construct a coordinated and balanced policy instrument framework;Overall planning of the development process of traditional Chinese medicine medical insurance policies,highlighting the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine;Emphasize policy synergy between dimensions and strengthen the implementation of traditional Chinese medicine medical insurance policies.

Purpose/Significance The paper systematically reviews the application and research progress of large language models(LLMs)in the medical field,analyzes the key challenges and opportunities,and provides references for related research.Method/Process The systematic literature review method is adopted to comprehensively review the relevant literature published in recent years,fo-cusing on the latest progress of medical LLMs.The application results,research status and challenges of LLMs in medical natural lan-guage processing(NLP)tasks are analyzed.Result/Conclusion The application of LLMs in the medical field has a broad prospect,and the future research should focus on the technical progress and the improvement of ethical norms.On the one hand,the pace of technologi-cal innovation should be accelerated,and on the other hand,strict compliance with ethical standards should be ensured to jointly promote the sustainable development of LLMs technology in the medical field.