This study evaluated the knowledge and practice of breast self-examination (BSE), among a sample of educated Iraqi women. The study sample comprised 858 women aged 18–62 years affiliated to 6 major Iraqi universities, categorized according to occupation as teaching staff (11.5%), administrative staff (18.0%) and students (70.5%). Data were collected by a self-completed questionnaire. In all, 93.9% of the women had heard about BSE, the main source of information was television (39.9%), doctors (18.4%) and the awareness campaign of the Iraqi National Breast Cancer Research Programme (11.6%). Only 53.9% of the women practised BSE; the most common excuses by those that did not were lack of knowledge of the significance of BSE (42.0%) and lack

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most frequently observed malignancy in females worldwide. Today, tamoxifen (TAM) is considered as the highly effective therapy for treatment of breast tumors. Oxidative stress has implicated strongly in the pathophysiology of malignancies. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the levels of oxidants and antioxidants in patients with newly diagnosed and TAM-treated BC. Sixty newly diagnosed and 60 TAM-treated women with BC and 50 healthy volunteers were included in this study. Parameters including total oxidant capacity (TOC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and catalase (CAT) activity were determined before and after treatment with TAM. The serum levels of TOC and oxidative stress index (OSI) were

         Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common, debilitating, and chronic pain syndrome. The women are more likely to have more tender points on examination than are their male counterparts. Iraqi study showed that FM occur in 1.5% among adolescents of Iraqi population. In compare to normal healthy women, present study was revealed that Iraqi women with FM have significant elevation of calcium (p = 0.003) with significant reduction of magnesium (p = 0.001), whereas the inorganic phosphorous was not differs (p = 0.31). In conclusion, magnesium and calcium would play a crucial role in etiopathogenesis of fibromyalgia.

Key words: calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, Fibromyalgia.

الخلفية: إن سمية الدواء والآثار الجانبية للعلاج الكيميائي تؤثر سلبا على مرضى سرطان الثدي. الأهداف: لتقييم فعالية التدخلات الصيدلانية في تحسين معرفة مرضى سرطان الثدي ومواقفهم وممارساتهم فيما يتعلق بالعلاج الكيميائي لسرطان الثدي.

 Placental dysfunction and or fetal central nervous system infestation caused by Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading cause of congenital non-genetic neuro-developmental problems of the newborn, worldwide. Although the highest rates of congenital infection and CMV seroprevalence occurs in developing countries like Iraq, there remains a paucity of data from that part of the world. This descriptive case control study was undertaken in Babylon/ Iraq to determine the local seroprevalence of CMV in women of child bearing age, and to identify the socio-demographic factors associated with it.  This study found a seropositivity peak amongst the 26-35 yr olds which declined in the 36 – 45 yr olds. However, the

Blood lipids are important mediators of host defense during the acute phase of innate immunity. Parasites may induce significant changes in lipid parameters, as has been shown in vitro study where substitution of serum by lipid/cholesterol in medium and in experimental models (in vivo). Thus changes in lipid profile occur in patients that having active infections with most of the parasites. Toxoplasma cannot synthesize cholesterol and depends upon acquisition of low density lipoprotein (LDL)-derived from the host cell, via endocytosis mediated by the LDL receptor or the LDL receptor-related protein.The present study is conducted to evaluate the changes in lipid profile in T. gondii infected women.A total of patients included 87 aborted wom

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Iraq and the United Kingdom. While the disease is frequently diagnosed among middleaged Iraqi women at advanced stages accounting for the second cause of cancer-related deaths, breast cancer often affects elderly British women yielding the highest survival of all registered malignancies in the UK. Objective: To compare the clinical and pathological profiles of breast cancer among Iraqi and British women; correlating age at diagnosis with the tumor characteristics, receptor-defined biomarkers and phenotype patterns. Methods: This comparative retrospective study included the clinical and pathological characteristics of (1,940) consecutive female patients who were diagnosed with invasive b

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has a worldwide distribution and common infections. The presence of HCMV genome and antigens has been detected in many kinds of human cancers. The proto-oncogene Her2/neu is overexpressed in 25% to 30% of human breast cancers and frequently associated with tumor aggressiveness and worse prognosis. Examination was applied to detect different HCMV antigens and to demonstrate their correlation with Her2/neu overexpression in breast cancer. The present study includes samples from 70 women of 60 breast cancer patients and 10 normal breast tissues. Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks were obtained from each woman according to ethical approval. Human cytomegalovirus early antigen expression was detected in 5