Background: since December 2019, China and in particularly Wuhan, faced an unprecedented an outbreak challenge of coronavirus disease 2019, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Clinical characteristics of Iraqi patients with COVID-19 and risk factors for mortality needed to be shared with the health care providers to improve the overall disease experience. Methods: prospective, single-center study recruited patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who were admitted to Al-Shifaa Isolation Center / Baghdad Medical City between the mid of March and the end of April 2020 until had been discharged or had died. Demographic data, information on clinical signs, symptoms, at presentation, treatment, have been collected from patient records and a research questioner. Result: a total of 60 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection have been included (mean age, 47 years [range, 12-80 years]; 72% male. Comorbidities were identified in 32 cases (53 %) including respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Fever and headache were reported in 27 (45%) and 15 (25%) of the cases respectively. Respiratory manifestations recorded as wheezing observed in 3 (5%), rhinorrhea 12 (20%), crackles 3 (5%) sore throat 22 (36%), bronchial breathing 23 (38.3%) with the most of the patients experienced cough 41 (68.3%) and shortness of breath (SOB) 38 (63.3%). Cyanosis is recognized in 3 (5%), convulsion 4 (6.7%), malaise 41 (68.3%). Gastrointestinal manifestations were diarrhea 8 (13.3%), vomiting 12 (20%). Overall mortality was higher in male gender 8 (18.6%) and the overall average age of the died cases was 60.5 years. Conclusion: the infection with COVID-19 is more likely to infect older men with hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease as significant risk factors for COVID-19 patients. The understanding of these factors can enhance defining those COVID-19 patients at higher risk, and allow a more targeted and approach to prevent those deaths.
Obesity is an escalating health problem in developing countries. One to ten children worldwide are overweight in a report showed by the International Obesity Task Force. Ghrelin, orexigenic peptide, has 28 amino acids, it is considered the greatest remarkable promotion in the last two decades for understanding the physiological changes of action regulating food intake and hunger. Obestatin is a 23-amino acid peptide nearly connected to ghrelin that secures from substitutio
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Background: Dental caries is a localized, progressive destructive, largely irreversible microbial based disease of multifactorial nature; these factors include (host, microbes and food) they influence differently on the initiation and progression of dental caries. The aims of the study: was to evaluate the effect of smoking on salivary flow rate, secretory immunoglobulin (SIgA) level and viable count of mutans streptococci (M.S) bacteria in oral cavity and their relation to dental caries experience. Material and method: The samples were collected from 80 male students ranging in ages from 18-22 years old. Where they divided in to two groups, 40 non-smokers (control group) and 40 smokers (study group). Unstimulated salivary samples were c
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Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a widespread, yet often overlooked, parasitic disease caused by the Leishmania protozoan, which is prevalent in numerous countries, including Iraq. This condition is marked by the appearance of skin lesions on various exposed areas of the body. In most old-world regions, sodium stibogluconate (SSG) is the classical widely used drug to treat CL. The progression of skin ulceration is controlled by different inflammatory modulators including cytokines and enzymes. In this study, the possible role of the enzyme Matrix metalloproteinase9 (MMP-9) and its inhibitor Metallopeptidase inhibitor-1 (TIMP-1) as immunological markers was evaluated in CL patients suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis before and aft
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Background: Beta thalassemia is a typically autosomal recessive form of severe anemia which is caused by an imbalance of two types of protein (alpha and beta) subunits of hemoglobin. Oxidative stress imbalance is the equilibrium between pro-oxidant\antioxidant statuses in cellular system, which results in damaging the cells. Antioxidant is a chemical that delays the start or slows the rate of lipid oxidation reaction and it play a very important role in the body defense system against reactive oxygen species. The aims of this study were to recorded the oro-facial manifestations in beta thalassemic patients and assess the oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde in serum and salivs and their role in the pathogenesis of beta thalassemia and ev
... Show MoreIn this work, Kinetic Phosphorescence Analyzer (KPA) has been used to measure the concentrations of uranium (UC) and Amorphous crystals (AMO) in urine samples of breast cancer patients in Baghdad. Additionally, a relation between UC and AMO with respect to patient's age has been deduced and studied.
Forty one urine samples of patients and five for healthy were taken from females lived in different residential area of Baghdad. The measured maximum UC value for urine samples of patients was 2.35 ± 0.053, the minimum value was 0.86 ± 0.034 μg/L, and an overall average was 1.6 ± 0.027 μg/L while the average UC for healthy females was 1.03 ± 0.020 μg/L.
From these results, AMO concentrations were found for all breast cancer patie
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Gastrointestinal diseases and especially chronic gastritis are mainly induced by Helicobacter pylori infection, and provides the basis for gastric carcinogenesis and colorectal cancer. The study involved the detection of serum anti-H. pylori IgG and IgA antibody of and some serum biomarkers ;CEA and CA19-9 in patients with gastrointestinal diseases. Fifty eight serum samples were collected from 25 males and 33 females .Peripheral venous blood was collected from each patient and sera obtained by centrifugation. Serum anti-H. pylori IgG and IgA ,serum CEA and CA19-9 were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assays (ELISA).Forty eight serum samples were positive for IgG (82.7% ) divided int
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Metabolic dysregulation and obesity are associated with many metabolic alterations, including impairment of insulin sensitivity and dyslipidemia. Recent studies highlight the key role of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate-dependent Rac exchange proteins (PREX proteins) in the pathogenesis of obesity, advocating further elucidation of their potential therapeutic implications. The present study aimed to estimate the serum level of PREX proteins and its potential association with insulin resistance markers and plasma lipids level in obese and overweight non-diabetic patients. The study included 30 persons classified as obese, 30 as overweight, and 30 healthy individuals of similar age and gender. The levels of PREX1 and PREX2 were
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A field experiment was carried out at the research station of the College of Agriculture - Wasit University / Kut, during the fall season 2021 in soil with texture (sandy mixture) using the RCBD design in the arrangement of splintered plates and with three replications, to study the effect of spraying different combinations of organic emulsion (Appetizer) and NPK nano fertilizer with urea fertilizer on the growth of synthetic cultivars of yellow corn. The main panels included three synthetic varieties of yellow corn (Fajr1, Sumer and Baghdad3), which symbolized by (V1,V2,V3) in sequence, while the secondary panels included five fertilization treatments in which mineral fertilizer (urea) was used 46% nitrogen with the full recomme
... Show MoreBackground: the primary objective for many researches carried out in dental implantology was to reduce the period needed for functional implant loading, simvastatin (cholesterol lowering medication) had many pleiotropic effects, one of which was increasing bone density around titanium implants (1) and subsequently establishing faster osseointegrated dental implants (2,3). This study aims to reduce the period of time needed to establish secondary stability of dental implant measured in ISQ (Implant Stability Quotient) by investigating the effect of orally administered simvastatin on bone. Materials and methods: simvastatin tablets (40mg/day for three months) were administered orally for 11 healthy women aged (40-51) years old who received 1
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