Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory autoimmune disease of unidentified etiology, associated with articular, extra-articular and systemic manifestation that require long-standing treatment. Taking patient’s beliefs about the prescribed medication in consideration had been shown to be an essential factor that affects adherence of the patient in whom having positive beliefs is an essential for better adherence. The purpose of the current study was to measure beliefs about medicines among a sample of Iraqi patients with Rheumatoid arthritis and to determine possible association between this belief and some patient-certain factors. This study is a cross-sectional study carried out on 250 already diagnosed rheumatoid

Objective: To compare distal tibia nonunion plating and grafting with and without platelet-rich plasma (PRP) regarding union rate, union time and complications Conclusion: Combining PRP with autologous bone graft results in a higher union rate, less healing duration, less post-operative pain, and more callus formation. (Rawal Med J 202;45:629- 632). Methodology: In this prospective comparative study, 32 patients with nonunion tibia from July 2017 January 2019 were divided into two groups: group A (16 cases) were treated by plating and grafting with PRP and group B (16 cases) were treated by plating and grafting only. Keywords: Tibial nonunion, bone graft, plateletrich plasma. Results: There was higher union rate in group A related to group

The Growth Differentiation Factor -15 (GDF-15) is a member of the transforming growth factor β superfamily. İt represents an example of the stress response cytokines. It's mostly found in cardiac myocytes, adipocytes, macrophages, endothelial cells, and vascular endothelial cells, whether they're generated normally or not. GDF-15 levels have increased and are associated with cardiovascular risk. Aim of the study: To investigate the correlation between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) with the level of plasma GDF-15 in a group of hypertensive patients. Materials and methods: A case-control study involved 90 individuals, 60 hypertensive patients (36 on ACE inhibitors and 24 on ARBs)

Exogenous levothyroxine dose modulation and euthyroidism achievement is a persistent challenge in clinical settings. This study strives to assess the adequacy of treatment and identify the patients’ factors that can be used to estimate the euthyroid levothyroxine dose. A secondary objective was to assess vitamin D supplementation impact on thyroid status.

A review of a prospectively collected information from 142 female patients from Baghdad Center of Nuclear Medicine from June 2019 until March 2020 who were receiving levothyroxine for different causes was done. After a follow-up period, the patients’ thyroid tests were assessed and the euthyroid doses for each cause category were statistically analyzed. Thyroid function was

Background: Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic disease characterized by low bone mass and micro architectural deterioration of bone tissue, resulting in an increased risk of fractures and has touched rampant proportions. Osteocalcin, one of the osteoblast-specific proteins, showed that its functions as a hormone improves glucose metabolism and reduces fat mass ratio. This study is aimed to estimate the osteocalcin and glucose level in blood serum of osteoporotic postmenopausal Women with and without Type 2 Diabetes.Materials and methods: 60 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis divided into two groups depending on with or without T2DM, 30 patients for each. Serum samples of 30 healthy postmenopausal women were collected as control group. Ost

  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

Background: Pomegranate (punicagranatum L, Punicaceae), is an edible fruit consumed around the world. The edible part of pomegranate is rich in compounds that possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The aim of this study is to investigate the antioxidant; anti-inflammatory and gingival wound healing effects of Punicagrantum L. seed extract oral supplementation in rabbit. Methods and Methods: Forty five male rabbits were divided into 3 groups, base line (5 rabbits) left without buccal gingival wound as( group 1),study group, 20 rabbits (group2) with buccal gingival wound treated with ethanolic extract of Punicagranatum L. seed extract and control, 20 rabbits (group 3) with buccal gingival wound only. Buccal gingival wounds w

Background: Chronic periodontitis (CP) is greatly prevalent condition of inflammatory behavior. Salivary biomarker total antioxidants capacity (T-AOC) status, may be related to both periodontal condition and oral hygiene. Aims of the study: To assess the level of salivary T-AOC of patients with chronic periodontitis in comparison to healthy control and to correlate between the level of this marker with the clinical periodontal parameters (plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL)). Materials and Methods: Ninety subjects of males and females with an age ranged between (35-55) years were participated in this study. Participants were divided into two grou

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common disease and major cause of morbidity in elderly men which may lead to bladder outflow obstruction and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Although sex steroid hormones play fundamental roles in prostate growth, their clinical significance is not completely clear. In the present study we assessed whether serum hormones levels as markers of prostate disease. This study includes (40) patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy and (40) control group with age rang (41-79) and (42-71) years respectively. The following biochemical investigations have been studied: Testosterone, Estradiol (E2), and Prostatic Specific Antigen (PSA) levels using ELISA method which correlated with t

Infection of the gastric mucosa with Helicobacter pylori is strongly associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. Helicobacter pylori virulence factors include a variety of proteins that are involved in its pathogenesis, such as VacA and CagA. Another group of virulence factors is clearly important for colonization of H.pylori in the gastric mucosa. These include urease, motility factors (flagellin), and Superoxide dismutase (SOD). Because of this organism's microaerophilic nature and the increased levels of reactive oxygen in the infected host, we expect that other factors involved in the response to oxidative stress are likely to be required for virulence. Superoxide dismutase is a near