Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's chest and Internal Medicine consultation clinics, and in private internist clinics in Kirkuk City, Iraq between January and April 2023. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI-COPD) measured the Burden of COPD. The symptom burden was assessed by the COPD assessment test (CAT). The level of IL-6 monoclonal antibodies was measured via a Roche Cobas 6000 analyzer and TNF-α using the ELISA sandwich technique. All these devices and machines were authorized by the Ministry of Health, Iraq. Results: The mean age was (54.1 ± 8.12) years, 62.5% being males and 37.5% being females; 41.7% were public sector employees, and 39.2% were self-employed. Due to COPD, the overall work loss was (45.9±18.91) days, the mean percentage of absenteeism was (10.9% ± 12.31%), activity impairment was (47.5% ±17.79%) among all patients, presenteeism was (40.8 ± 15.05%,) and COPD-related retirees were 14.2% of the study group. The mean CAT score (19.3±5.63) was high and the most troubling symptom among patients was chest tightness. WPAI-COPD scores were higher in older age and longer disease duration. The levels of biomarkers were above the reference ranges, the mean IL-6 level was (69.4 ± 35.29) pg/ml, and the mean TNF-α was (72.3 ± 22.45) pg/ ml. Conclusions: COPD patients exhibit a disease burden in terms of productivity loss at work and activity impairment that increases with aging and disease duration. COPD patients with low BMI are more prone to a decline in lung functions and to worse symptoms.
Background. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a prevalent disease that, if not appropriately managed, can lead to a variety of problems, including diabetic foot. Glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), FBS, amylase, and lipase are important diabetic management indicators now employed as diagnostic tests. Objective. This study aimed to evaluate the value of amylase and lipase as predictive markers in patients with diabetic foot. Patients and methods. This study included 50 patients who reported to Baghdad Hospital with diabetic feet between November 2023 and February 2025. All patients had their HbA1c, amylase, lipase, and FBS levels tested. Means, independent t-tests, and the F-test were used in the statistical analysis. Results. The study evaluat
... Show MoreObjective: To investigate the relation between dyslipidemia and insulin resistance where it is one of the metabolic
disorders in patients with type-ΙΙ diabetes mellitus and compare the results with the control group.
Methodology: Blood samples were collected from (35) patients with type-ΙΙ diabetes mellitus, besides (35) healthy
individuals as a control group were enrolled in this study. The age of all subjects range from (20-50). Serum was
used in determination of glucose, insulin, lipid profile (cholesterol (Ch), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein
(HDL-Ch), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-Ch) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), for patients and control
groups. Insulin resistance (IR) was calculated acco
This study is concentrated to investigate the effects of aeration and stirring speed on the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (KLa). A dynamic technique was used in estimating KLa values in order to achieve the aim of this study.
This study was done in 10L bioreactor by using two medias:-
- Dionized water
- Xanthan solution (1 g /L)
Moreover, the research covered a comparison between the obtained values of KLa.
The Xanthan solution was used because of its higher viscosity in comparison with water. It behaves similarly to the cultivation medium when organisms are cultivated in a bioreactor. Growth of organisms in the reactor l
... Show MoreBackground: Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects mainly the synovial membranes and articular structures and is characterized by chronic, systemic inflammation involving multiple joints.Being a synovial joint, the Temporomandibular Joint is subject to the same disorders affecting other synovial joints, including RA.Beside it was considered as a specific serological marker for diagnosing RA disease ,antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide have proven to be associated with joints destruction, though; it may play a potential role in the prediction of the disease severity. Materials and Methods: Sixty nine individuals (69) were enrolled in this study, forty nine (49) were patients diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, a
... Show MoreThe second most commonly diagnosed cancer is colorectal cancer (CRC) is in female. The levels of progranulin, obestatin and liver enzymes including ALT, AST and ALP were measured in forty five sera in female patients suffering from CRC before chemotherapy initiation treatment as G1, G2 after first chemotherapy cycle and G3 after second chemotherapy cycle compared with thirty female as a healthy control G4. Results showed a high significant increased in progranulin concentration and a high significant decrease in obestatin in G2 than other groups. The correlation between progranulin and ALP was a significant negative (-ve) relation while obestatin with AST gave a significant positive (+ve) correlation in G. The results also showed non signif
... Show MoreBackground: Accurate measurement of a patient’s height and weight is an essential part of diagnosis and therapy, but there is some controversy as to how to calculate the height and weight of patients with disabilities. Objective: This study aims to use anthropometric measurements (arm span, length of leg, chest circumference, and waist circumference) to find a model (alternatives) that can allow the calculation of the height and the body weight of patients with disabilities. Additionally, a model for the prediction of weight and height measurements of patients with disabilities was established. Method: Four hander patients aged 20-80 years were enrolled in this study and divided into two groups, 210 (52.5%) male and 190 (47.5%) fe
... Show MoreBackground/Objectives: Nonsurgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) is the gold-standard technique for treating periodontitis. However, an individual’s susceptibility or the inadequate removal of subgingival biofilms could lead to unfavorable responses to NSPT. This study aimed to assess the potential of salivary and microbiological biomarkers in predicting the site-specific and whole-mouth outcomes of NSPT. Methods: A total of 68 periodontitis patients exhibiting 1111 periodontal pockets 4 to 6 mm in depth completed the active phase of periodontal treatment. Clinical periodontal parameters, saliva, and subgingival biofilm samples were collected from each patient at baseline and three months after NSPT. A quantitative PCR assay was us
... Show MoreBackground: obesity is a major global health problem with more than 200 million obese men and almost 300 million obese women. Melatonin is a well-known molecule for its involvement in circadian rhythm regulation and has multiple pathological actions including control of appetite, sleep wake cycle and metabolic syndrome.
Aim: to estimate the effect of melatonin supplements on obese patients on a calorie restricted diet in comparison to patients on lifestyle measures only in the form of weight loss, waist circumference and sleep quality.
Subjects and Method: one hundred patients with body mass index > 24 were collected, fifty patients were starte
... Show MoreReactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced as a result of biochemical processes that are not in balance with the body's antioxidant defense mechanism. This metabolic dysfunction is referred to the oxidative stress (OS). Metabolic dysfunction-associated diseases are affected by changes in the redox balance. It is now widely recognized that oxidative stress significantly affects diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly type 2 diabetes. The biochemical changes associated with DM could disturb the oxidative milieu, leading to several microvascular complications in diabetic patients. Thus, DM is a perfect disease to explore the harmful consequences of oxidative stress and how to treat it. Oxidative stress triggered by hyperglycemia is
... Show MoreThe importance of this research lies in assessing the current state of media in Iraq based on international indicators and standards set by the Research and Scientific Exchange Council and UNESCO. That is to measure the strength and durability of media after 9 April 2003. These indicators are divided into five objectives that measure and describe each of the five research objectives that we seek to test through the points system.
Based on the foregoing, researchers in Iraqi media find that these conditions may lead to further decline unless measures are taken to help avoid mistakes, provide the requirements for development and progress. In addition, care from the State is needed to support this process, which would
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