Background: Despite the importance of vaccines in preventing COVID-19, the willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccines is lower among RA patients than in the general population. Objective: To determine the extent of COVID-19 knowledge among RA patients and their attitudes and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines. Methods: A qualitative study with a phenomenology approach was performed through face-to-face, individual-based, semi-structured interviews in the Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, rheumatology unit. A convenient sample of RA patients using disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs was included until the point of saturation. A thematic content analysis approach was used to analyze the obtained data. Results: Twenty-five RA patients participated in this study. Regarding knowledge about COVID-19, most participants were able to define COVID-19, realize its contagious nature, and see the need for masks to get protection from this infection, while only a minority knew COVID-19 symptoms. Most participants obtained information about COVID-19 from TV programs and the public. Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, about 1/4 of the participants knew vaccine side effects, and only 12% of them had positive attitudes toward the vaccine. Additionally, 19 participants were unwilling to take the vaccine. The most common reasons behind this reluctance to take the vaccine include fear of the vaccine's short- and long-term side effects and the worsening of RA. Conclusion: RA patients' knowledge about COVID-19 and its vaccines was poor, and their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines were negative.
ABSTRACTBackground: dyslipidemia plays a crucial rule in the development of cardiovascular disease, which has become the leading cause of death in most developed countries as well as in developing countries (1). The effects of reducing low density lipoprotein – C (LDL-C) concentrations on the prevention of cardiovascular events and stroke have been well reported in many clinical trials.Objectives: Evidence supports the use of statins for lipid modifications in the primary prevention of coronary artery disease, morbidity and mortality. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of atorvastatin in treating dyslipidemia in Iraqi obese patients.Methods: 200 overweight and obese patients with hypercholesterolemia, according to NCEP ATP
... Show MoreBladder dysfunction is one of the most common complications of diabetes, even exceeding nephropathy or peripheral neuropathy. Diabetic cystopathyaffects patients in both sexes, and its prevalence increases over time with diabetes; our concern is to evaluate the urodynamic findings of bladder dysfunction in diabetic patients.A cross sectional study conducted at Ghazi Al-Hariri Surgical specialized hospital during the period from the firsts of January 2018 to the end of Mar 2019, in which 118 diabetic patients (71 female and 47 male) with lower urinary tract symptoms were enrolled in the current study. The mean age (62±13) years old, 37.3% of patients presented with urgency as the main type of dysfunction. Diabetic cystopathy were fo
... Show MoreBackground : Double diabetes (DD) is the term used to describe situations in which a patient exhibits characteristics that are a combination of type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM) and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) a large epidemiological study found that 25.5% of people with T1D also had the metabolic syndrome. A new protein hormone called asprosin is predominantly released by white adipose tissue. It was initially discovered in 2016 . Asprosin is important diagnoses marker for insulin resistant in diabetes patients ,additionally is very important denotation about early diagnoses of type 2 diabetes. Objectives: The current study aims to find predictive significance of diagnosis a double diabetes by evaluating the asprosin in the blood serum of
... Show MoreBackground and Objectives: Urinary tract infections (UTIs), among a wide range of microbial infections, are of a double-edged worry with health-care and economic implications. They are serious diseases that can influence various parts of the urinary tract. The aim of this study was characterization of the enteric bacteria isolated from urine of human UTIs and studying their antimicrobial sensitivity. Materials and methods: A total of 50 urine samples were collected from patients with UTIs of both genders. The isolates identification was done using routine diagnostic methods and confirmed by Vitek2. Antimicrobial susceptibility was done against 10 antimicrobials. Results: Both genders of human were found to suffer from urinary tract problems
... Show MoreAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) is heterogeneous disorders originated from the abnormalities in the proliferation and maturation of myeloid progenitors in bone morrow. There is a clinical correlation between immunity engines and disease progression, but this relationship is not completely clear yet. This study was designed to assess the full immune response in Iraqi patients diagnosed with AML. Patients and healthy volunteers were divided into three groups: newly diagnosed untreated, under chemotherapy treatment patients and control group. A significant reduction were seen in C4 and IFN-γ levels in both untreated and treated groups with no significant difference between untreated and treated groups. On the other hand, IL-2 and IL-8 levels inc
... Show MoreCD63 is -one of the tetraspanin family proteins, which are regarded as: hallmark exosomal markers because it is absent from other types of vesicles. It is expressed in the cell membrane of cancer cells, and cytoplasm of stromal cells. Objective: To assess CD63 expression in gastric cancer (GC) patients, and detected if it could be used as a predictive marker. Furthermore, the current study aimed to find the correlation between CD63 expression and clinicopathological parameters as: gender, age, invasion depth, histopathological type, involvement of lymph nodes, grade and stages of GC (TNM). The current study is a retrospective study in the period time from (2018 to-2020); 50 randomly patients formalin-fixed paraffin embedded blocks (FFPE)
... Show MoreBackground: Hybrid diabetes (or double diabetes, DD) occur when the patient which exhibits characteristics that combine type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Formerly epidemiological studies found that quarter of people with T1D also had the metabolic syndrome. Subfatin, Also called cometin, it is a small (~27kDa) cytokine secreted by protein encoded by a gene called METRNL (simeler of meteorin). is much expressed in skin in the mucosal tissues and activated macrophages. Subfatin has also been described as a hormone that effected in some diseases such as metabolic diseases (including dyslipidemia), type 2 diabetes and obesity. Objectives: The current study objective is evaluating the subfatin in the blood serum of double diabet
... Show MoreToxoplasmosis is the term for infection and disease in man and animal caused by a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. The more susceptible to infect with toxoplasmosis is the Diabetic patients, due to low level of immunity response. The aim of current study is to investigate the immune status of diabetes mellitus type 2. One hundred and seventy five samples of both diabetes mellitus type 2patients and controls which had been tested by ELISA technique to detect anti-Toxoplasma Abs (IgG and IgM). The positive toxoplasmosis samples were tested to detect the level of TNF alpha and MIG. Results for all samples clarified that seronegative for IgM antibodies while 53 (53%) diabetic patients were seropositive for IgG antibodies and for toxoplasmosis
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