Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is currently the fastest-growing neurological disorder in the world. Patients with PD face numerous challenges in managing their chronic condition, particularly in countries with scarce healthcare infrastructure. Objective This qualitative study aimed to delve into neurologists’ perspectives on challenges and gaps in the Iraqi healthcare system that influence the management of PD, as well as strategies to mitigate these obstacles. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with neurologists from five different Iraqi provinces, working in both hospitals and private neurology clinics, between November 2024 and January 2025. A thematic analysis approach was employed to identify the main challenges and gaps in the healthcare system, along with potential mitigation strategies for improving PD management in Iraq. Results Fourteen neurologists participated in this study. Among them, 71.4% identified medication adherence as a major challenge, followed by motor symptoms (64.3%). Physical dependency due to motor impairment was the most reported limitation affecting daily life and disease management. Neurologists cited several factors influencing patients’ knowledge, including educational background, depression or family support, were mentioned by neurologists. Significant gaps in the Iraqi healthcare system were noted, such as the lack of specialized abnormal movement disorders clinics, multidisciplinary collaboration, a universal healthcare system, insufficient public PD awareness, and the presence of unregulated pharmaceuticals in the market. Conclusion Addressing these challenges requires policy-driven reforms, enhanced regulatory oversight and the integration of multidisciplinary care frameworks to optimize the management of individuals with PD. Strengthening patient education and professional training programs could further raise public awareness and improve care quality. Future research should focus on evaluating the effects of these proposed interventions on clinical outcomes for PD patients and promoting more patient-centered care for individuals with PD in Iraq.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women over the world. To reducing reoccurrence and mortality rates, adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) is used for a long period. The major barrier to the effectiveness of the treatment is adherence. Adherence to medicines among patients is challenging. Patient beliefs in medications can be positively or negatively correlated to adherence. Objectives: To investigate the extent of adherence and factors affecting adherence, as well as to investigate the association between beliefs and adherence in women with breast cancer taking AHT. Method: A cross-sectional study included 124 Iraqi women with breast cancer recruited from Middle Euphrates
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic kidney disease is a gradual loss of kidney function with diabetes and hypertension as the leading cause. Chronic kidney disease is one of these systemic diseases that can affect salivary contents. Aims: This study aimed to assess salivary immunoglobulin A, interleukin-6 and C- reactive protein in chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis and those on conservative treatment in comparison with control subjects. Materials and methods: Ninety subjects were included in this study divided into three groups: 30 patients with chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis for at least 6 months ago; 30 patients with chronic kidney disease on conservative treatment and 30 healthy control subjects. Secretory immunoglobulin A, inte
... Show MoreSoil water use and water storage vary by vegetative management practices, and these practices affect land productivity and hydrologic processes. This study investigated the effects of agroforestry buffers (AB), grass buffers (GB), and biofuel crops (BC), relative to row crops (RC) on soil water use for a claypan soil in northern Missouri, USA. The experiment located at the Greenley Memorial Research Center included RC, AB, GB, and BC established in 1991, 1997, 1997, and 2012, respectively. Soil water reflectometer sensors installed at 5‐, 10‐, 20‐, and 40‐cm depths monitored soil water from April to November in 2017 and 2018. Results showed significant differences in weekly volumetric water content (VWC) among treatments for all fou
... Show MoreCancer stem cells (CSCs) are defined as a population of cells present in tumours, which can undergo self-renewal and differentiation. Identification and isolation of these CSCs using putative surface markers have been a priority of research in cancer. With this background we selected pancreatic normal and tumor cells for this study and passaged them into animal tissue culture medium. Further staining was done using alkaline phosphatase and heamatoxilin staining. Blue to purple colored zones in undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells and clear coloration in the chromatin material indicated pancreatic cells. Further studies on the cell surface marker CD 44 were done using ELISA. For this, the protein was extracted from cultivated normal and t
... Show MoreBones were recorded in the skeleton of some species of Iraqi turtle Mauremys rivulata; the objectives of this study came in light of current conditions, environmental developments, talents and techniques of biological studies taking place in the country, need for an anatomy guide in river turtles of Iraqi species, to identify all kinds of similarities and differences with their preaching, this work or study has become written in response to those modern needs. It is designed to be one of the resources for those interested in biological studies, beginners or professionals, and veterinarians, distinguishing them from marine and global species. Turtles were dissected in the laboratories of the Research Center and Museum of Natural Hist
... Show MoreThe liver (hepatic) is one of the largest glands or organs of the digestive system in the body of living organisms, including rodents, take the squirrel in this study for example. The study and the collection of sources emerged to be put into the hands of those, especially those interested in histological studies, including junior or professionals and veterinarians, knowledge of the stains used in the research and their final results.
The importance of regional development resides in the provision of aid and other assistance to regions that are less economically developed. The purpose of this research is to identify the development possibilities and resources at the regional level, which can be tapped for the development of secondary cities. This research aims to shed light on the importance of urban planning in creating regional balance and relieving population and service pressure on major cities. The research answers the question relative to how urban planners can work towards the idea of creating development corridors including the cities located within them, whilst focusing more on the regional dimension and the topic of sustainable urbanization. This research assum
... Show MoreThis study was carried out in Artificial Insemination Center of Iraq to revealed FMD disease effect on some seminal attributer parameters of 14 imported Holstein bulls divided to three groups according to different reproductive efficiency (four High, five medium and five weak). Results showed that FMD disease had significant (P < 0.05) adverse effect on most seminal attributer parameters, mass, individual motility and sperm concentration / ml during post disease in first of two, four, all months of high, medium and weak semen quality bulls respectively .but semen volume didn’t influenced significantly with this disease. So semen collection should be suspended until resume normal fertility of sperm, after two, four month of high and
... Show MoreIn line with the advancement of hardware technology and increasing consumer demands for new functionalities and innovations, software applications grew tremendously in term of size over the last decade. This sudden increase in size has a profound impact as far as testing is concerned. Here, more and more unwanted interactions among software systems components, hardware, and operating system are to be expected, rendering increased possibility of faults. To address this issue, many useful interaction-based testing techniques (termed t-way strategies) have been developed in the literature. As an effort to promote awareness and encourage its usage, this chapter surveys the current state-of-the-art and reviews the state-of-practices in t
... Show More