Abstract Aim: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which affects communication and social interaction of children. It is a heterogeneous disease with various clinical presentations. Some genes are involved in its pathogenesis. It has been suggested that environmental exposure to lead can increase the risk of autism. The aim of our study was to compare blood lead levels among autistic and non-autistic children. Material and Method: This retrospective study included 107 children (60 with autism and 47 without autism) referred from the different Iraqi provinces, in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, to the poisoning consultation center in Baghdad. Data collection including age, gender, residence, referral source, family history and blood lead levels was taken from their medical records. Results: No significant differences were noticed between the prevalence of autism and both of age (P=0.843) and gender (P=0.699). The majority of children have no family history of autism (85%). Mean blood lead level for all participants was 16.01 μg/dl. The statistically significant difference in lead level was found between autistic and non-autistic children (17.38± 1.86 μg/dl in autism group versus 14.27± 1.57 μg/dl in non-autism group) with a P value of 0.001. Discussion: Mean blood lead level was high in all participants, compared to the international values, which might indicate a high level of lead exposure in Iraqi children due to environmental pollution. Autistic children have higher lead levels than non-autistic ones and this might explain the role of lead in the etiology of autism.
BACKGROUND: In 1972 complete description of the
inflammation of posterior third of the vocal cords was
done, with barium swallow confirming Gastro
Esophageal Disease [CRED] & subsequent successful
symptomatic treatment with antacid. The possible
association between GERD & chronic laryngitis was
initially known as acid laryngitis .2
*from the Department of ENT, Hawlear Medical College, Hawlear university. Department of ENT, Rezgary Teaching Hospital, Erbil.
Correspondence to :
Dr.Said Mustafa Said
Corespondence Address to : Dr.Said Mustafa Said _ E- mail: Email [email protected] Mob. 07504563829
Recived at : 15 th Dec 2009 Accepted at : 3ed Nov 2010
OBJECTIVE: To record the common presentat
... Show MoreThis study was conducted from February 2010 to December 2010. Water Samples were collected every two months in three stations in Baghdad city. The study involved the assessment of concentrations of some heavy metals such as: Chromium, Cadmium, Copper, Iron, Lead, Manganese, Nickel and Zinc. the values of chromium were undetected for the entire of the study, while the rest of the heavy metal were ranged between 0.001 -0.438 mg / l, ND -0.077 mg / L, ND -0.778 mg / l, 0.36 - 0.011 mg / l, 0.011-0 .08mg/ l, ND - 0.1985 mg / l, ND -0.0416 mg / l, respectively. The results showed that the concentrations of heavy metals were fluctuated during the study period, except Lead which have high concentrations and exceeded the permit limits in all statio
... Show MoreBackground: Health information systems in most countries are inadequate in providing the needed management support and the current health information systems are therefore widely seen as management obstacles rather than as tools,Objectives: the current study is an attempt to assess the behavioral and organizational determinants of health information system performance in Iraq.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by interviewed a total of 189 respondents selected from six Iraqi governorates. The Organizational and Behavioral Assessment Tool was used to measure the behavioral and organizational determinants of health information system performance, it is one of the PRISM package tools that are used to assess the health informatio
... Show MoreThe period of the reign of King Ghazi saw many disorders in most parts of the country and the management disrupted and imbalanced, besides tribal unrests and political conflict and collision with British interests, Such as bad management in some regions and loss of government control over some administrative units, due to the position of the weak governments towards these problems, so it was necessary to change these Governments and Ministers to solve such problems. In contrast, the Iraqi government has focused on the army as the basis for a strong state and the protector on the existence of an external threat for the safety of the country, King Ghazi has helped in the development of competencies of the military, bringing the officers ex
... Show MoreThe covid-19 global pandemic has influenced the day-to-day lives of people across the world. One consequence of this has been significant distortion to the subjective speed at which people feel like time is passing. To date, temporal distortions during covid-19 have mainly been studied in Europe. The current study therefore sought to explore experiences of the passage of time in Iraq. An online questionnaire was used to explore the passage of time during the day, week and the 11 months since the first period of covid-19 restrictions were imposed in Iraq. The questionnaire also measured affective and demographic factors, and task-load. The results showed that distortions to the passage of time were widespread in Iraq. Participants co
... Show MoreThe clayey soils have the capability to swell and shrink with the variation in moisture content. Soil stabilization is a well-known technique, which is implemented to improve the geotechnical properties of soils. The massive quantities of waste materials are resulting from modern industry methods create disposal hazards in addition to environmental problems. The steel industry has a waste that can be used with low strength and weak engineering properties soils. This study is carried out to evaluate the effect of steel slag (SS) as a by-product of the geotechnical properties of clayey soil. A series of laboratory tests were conducted on natural and stabilized soils. SS was added by 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20% to the soil.
... Show MoreThis study provides a Key to the species of Cerceris Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae, Philanthinae) that were collected from different areas in Iraq. This is followed by a distribution list, including total species which had been registered for Iraq. Also this study includes some observations about the species that were recorded in previous checklists.
Water pollution is an issue that can be exacerbated by drought as increased concentrations of unwanted substances are a consequence of lower water levels. Polluted water that flows into natural marshlands leads to the deposition of pollutants in the interior of the marsh. Here we present evidence that the interior of the Central Marsh (CM) in southern Iraq suffers from higher levels of pollution than areas closer to the source of water entering the marsh (the Euphrates River). A 1.7m embankment that halts the flow of the Euphrates is only infrequently breached and so the CM is effectively the terminal destination of the waters (and their associated pollutants and agricultural waste) flowing from the West of Iraq.
A range of water
... Show MoreBackground Rectal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors of gastrointestinal tract. Combining chemotherapy with radiotherapy has a sound effect on its management.
Objectives Assessment the patterns of characterizations of rectal cancer. Evaluation of the efficacy, and long-term survival of pre-/ postoperative chemoradiation. Collecting all eligible evidence articles and summarize the results.
Methods By this systematic review and meta-analysis study, we include data of chemoradiation of rectal cancer articles from 2015 until 2019. The research was carried out at Baghdad Medical City oncology centers. Accordance with the
The investigation of earth dams under significant earthquake loads, such as catastrophic earthquakes, is a critical subject in dynamic evaluation. Damage mitigation and structural performance during an earthquake are crucial considerations for an earthen dam. However, Iraq and its neighbors have experienced frequent earthquake activity, including the 2017 Halabja Earthquake, which may have damaged some existing earth dams, posing a higher risk of severe earthquake-induced damage than a cyclic shock. Therefore, assessing the dam’s safety is crucial for protecting downstream communities and determining the best strategies to prevent slope stability failure in the face of frequent s