Introduction: Although it is discouraged, community pharmacy customers can obtain oral corticosteroids (OCSs) without prescriptions from some community pharmacies in Iraq. Medication abuse is defined as the use of medication for non-medical reasons. Objectives: The study aimed to determine demographics, beliefs, and perceptions associated with the abuse of oral corticosteroids for non-illness reasons among community pharmacy customers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in fall 2018 in four provinces in Iraq. Customers of 19 community pharmacies asking for OCSs for themselves without a prescription were administered a paper survey. This study used the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to measure the relationship between the motivational factors and the abuse of OCSs. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the use of OCSs for non-illness and six TRA factors: Normative belief, behavioral belief, evaluation of the behavior, motivation to comply, subjective norms and attitude toward behavior. Results: The study enrolled 141 participants (98 women and 43 men) taking asking for OCSs without prescription. Dexamethasone was the most commonly used OCSs (59.6%). Friends were the primary recommenders for corticosteroids abuse (28.4%). The main reasons for using OCSs were to increase appetite and gain weight (53.9 %). Approximately one-third (36.2 %) of the participants gained weight after using OCSs. The regression analysis of the TRA variables showed two factors were significantly related to the abuse of OCSs. Age had a significant inverse relationship with the abuse of OCSs and the "good appearance" belief had a significant positive association with OCS abuse. Conclusion: Some Iraqi community pharmacy customers use non-prescribed oral corticosteroids to increase appetite and gain weight. Improve body appearance represents the dominant incentive that urges people to use OCSs without prescription. Health officials and healthcare practitioners need to promote people's awareness about the risks of misusing OCSs through education programs and advertisements in public health settings, media, and social media. Article Type: Original Research
Background: Ulcerative colitis disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract. In regulation of this inflammatory process, Interleukin-6, C-reactive proteins and albumin have a major role. Overproduction of IL-6 by immunocompetent cells contributes to activate the liver to produce CRP, transudation of plasma albumin and development of the inflammatory condition. Elevated levels of IL-6 in saliva could be expected, because the saliva-producing cells are part of the digestive system. The purpose of this study was to assess salivary IL-6, CRP and albumin in ulcerative colitis patients in relation to oral findings. Materials and methods: Forty eight saliva specimens collected from three groups of subjects (s
... Show MoreCarbamazepine is an anticonvulsant agent which acts on the central nervous system and used for the treatment of epilepsy. Carbamazepine was formulated as an oral extended release tablets using ethyl cellulose as retardant substance. Different types of tablets additives such as cellulose materials (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose ), lactose, calcium phosphate and solubilizing agents ( sodium lauryl sulphate and polyethylene glycol 6000) were utilized to study their effect on the release profile of drug from ethyl cellulose matrices. It was found that sodium carboxymethyl cellulose increased the carbamazepine release and the same effect was obtained when the same amount of microcrystalline cellulose used
... Show MoreDegradation is one of the key processes governing the impact of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Most studies on the degradation of pharmaceuticals have focused on soil and sludge, with fewer exploring persistence in aquatic sediments. We investigated the dissipation of 6 pharmaceuticals from different therapeutic classes in a range of sediment types. Dissipation of each pharmaceutical was found to follow first‐order exponential decay. Half‐lives in the sediments ranged from 9.5 (atenolol) to 78.8 (amitriptyline) d. Under sterile conditions, the persistence of pharmaceuticals was considerably longer. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to
Background: Dental anomalies might occur due to abnormal events during teeth development caused by environmental or genetic factors during histo differentiation or morph differentiation stages of embryological development. Aims of the study: To evaluate the distribution of developmental dental anomalies according to age and gender in relation to nutritional status in children attending College of Dentistry /University of Baghdad. Materials and method: After examination 5760 children aged 5-12 years of both genders only 147child with dental anomalies were found, all developmental dental anomalies that were clinically observable were recorded. The developmental dental anomalies which diagnosed in this study were supernumerary, missing teeth,
... Show MoreGiant Cell Fibroma (GCF) is a relatively rare oral mucosal lesion, so named due to the characteristic giant cells present within the fibrous stroma of the lesion, limited number of clinicopathological studies were performed in previously published literature. This study was performed to evaluate the clinicopathological features of Giant cell fibroma in a sample of Iraqi patients. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections from 22 giant cell fibroma in period between 2010 and 2018 were retrieved from the laboratory of oral pathology of Baghdad University/College of Dentistry, Clinical data and microscopic features were reviewed and analyzed according to the available surgical reports. The mean age of patients at the time of diagnosis was 29.6
... Show MoreFast dissolving film can be defined as a dosage form, which when placed in the oral cavity. It will rapidly disintegrate and dissolves to release the medication for oral mucosal absorption or allow for the gastrointestinal absorption to be achieved when swallowed.
Flurbiprofen is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent with antipyretic and analgesic properties and can be used in low doses 8.75 mg as analgesic and anti inflammatory agent in sore throat infection. This study aims to formulate flurbiprofen as oral dissolving films, to improve the effective relief of pain with severe sore throats with little or no adverse effect.
Nine formulas were prepared using solvent-casting method, and t
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