Background: Hepatitis C and B is common disease all over the world and their chronicity is a social and medical problem so medical treatment by alpha interferon can change the mortality and morbidity.
Object: Identify the incidence of the side effects of pegylated interferon alpha in a sample of Iraqi patients with chronic hepatitis B&C and their relation to age, gender, duration of treatment and type of hepatitis comparing them with the literatures from other countries.
Patients and methods:A descriptive case series study was conducted on 50 patients, 24 male and 26 female, with established diagnosis of hepatitis B(20 patients)and C(30 patients) who attend Baghdad Teaching hospital and Gastroenterology and Hepatology centre in Baghdad between the period of January 2009 and October 2010 with follow up over at least 3 months.
A direct interview with detailed history and thorough clinical examination with some simple laboratory investigation were done to determine any of the documented side effects of alpha interferon therapy or discover new side effects not elicited in the studies done on other populations.
Results: Flu-like illness is the most common side effect (84%), followed by fatigue, anorexia, local reaction and neuropsychiatric side effects while Neutropenia, lymphopenia and thyroiditis are rare.
There is no significant difference in the incidence of side effects between age groups with the exception of constipation which occurs more in younger age group. Arthralgia, palpitation, eczema, itching and rash increase in incidence with prolonged duration of treatment.
There is no significant difference in incidence of side effects between both genders apart from hypertension (more in female) and dizziness (more in male).
There is no significant difference in incidence of side effects between patients with hepatitis B&C but anemia occurs more in patients with hepatitis C and tremor reported more in patients with hepatitis B.
Conclusion: Almost all patients on treatment with interferon-based regimen will experience adverse events that can threaten good adherence. Flu-like illness is the most common side effect (84%), followed by fatigue, anorexia, local reaction and neuropsychiatric side effects (depression, nervousness, insomnia).
The higher incidence of anemia in patients with hepatitis C is mostly due to concomitant ribavirin therapy.
Age, gender, type of hepatitis and duration of treatment can affect the incidence of interferon therapy.
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity plays a central role in causing disability both directly and via indirect effects mediated through joint damage. Evaluation of RA disease activity is therefore important to predict the outcome and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions during follow-up. Clinical disease activity index (CDAI) is new simple tool for measurement of disease activity.
Objectives: To assess validity and reliability of CDAI in comparison to disease activity score-28 joints (DAS28) in Iraqi patients with active RA.
Patients and Methods: Sixty nine Iraqi RA patients were included in this study. All patients were fulfilling the ACR classification criteria and active. Full history was taken and comple
The subject of "The minimum employee's salary in the Iraqi Legislation" is a significant and practical importance for discussing the minimum range for salary as one of the important guarantees that approved by legislator in the civil law service and related laws based on the relied criteria and concepts that participate to decide that point. All that shall fit with general economical status and considering its development by routine viewing and increasing it based on the employee's status and his general position. This research will state the position of Iraqi legislator of reporting and adjusting the minimum range of employee's salary and comparing it with the status of Egyptian and Lebanese legislators. &nb
... Show MoreBackground: Periodontitis (PD) is well-known chronic disease affecting the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone, Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic joint disease with compound reasons characterized by synovial inflammation, subchondral bone remodeling, also the formation of osteophytes, that cause cartilage degradation. Chronic periodontitis and osteoarthritis are considered widely prevalent diseases and related to tissue destruction due to chronic inflammation in general health and oral health. The aim of this study is todetermine the association of chronic periodontitis and osteoarthritits in patients by analysing tumor necrosis factor alpha TNFα and high sensitive c-reactive protein (hsCRP) in the serum. Materials and Method: A tot
... Show MoreIn order to facilitate the accounting procedure and accelerate its achievement, commercial banks used to follow reversing entry style in agent’s account opened with them, to settle its debits caused by non-payment of the discounted commercial paper value. The question was raised about: the legal importance to such method for settling the discounting bank debits, particularly when the bank account of the discounted side was debtor and not creditor, as the case of discounted party under bankruptcy.
It is noted that the Jordanian trade legislations is totally silent in this regard, as well as the other trade legislations which are frankly considering the reversing entry as an organizer for deleting the trust entry which was
... Show MorePhilosophy of Abstraction and Construction of Space in Contemporary Iraqi Theater Abstract The aesthetic and stylistic features in the theatrical play develop according to the changes of the age and its developments. Stylistic forms different from the prevailing and familiar in the visions of contemporary theatre directors emerged which adopt the removal of traditional awareness in the creation of the visual space of theatrical discourse, through adopting contemporary formats and structures which depend on the abstraction representations in the aesthetic construction of the contemporary theatre show which is one of the prerequisites of the postmodern theater, that produces aesthetic data based on abstract metaphors in the formation of th
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the duration of time spent by the student inside the examination rooms answering the all kinds of written ex-amination questions has some kind of a positive effect on the final score he will get from that exam. And if there arc gender differences in this respect. Students and methods: Data on the final examinations of the autumn quarter was gathered on 892 examina-tions conducted at the end of this quarter , this included male participants of 566 and females of 326. Examinations were on twenty different subjects , including all of the first five years of the undergraduate students of Iraqi College of Medicine for the academic year 2002 — 2003 . The scheduled time of the examinations was
... Show MoreBackground: Acne is a multifactorial disease with multiple pathogenic factors. Many types of therapies are available including systemic antibiotics , choosing the appropriate one depend on the experience of the doctor , side effects , antimicrobial resistance , availability and cost. Although doxycycline is effective and commonly prescribed as first line systemic treatment for moderate to severe inflammatory acne vulgaris , some cases do not respond because of antimicrobial resistance.
Objective: To evaluate and compare the effectiveness and safety of azithromycin and co-trimoxazole in the treatment of acne vulgaris cases that are resistant to doxycycline in Iraqi patients.
Background: Ulcerative colitis disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract. In regulation of this inflammatory process, Interleukin-6, C-reactive proteins and albumin have a major role. Overproduction of IL-6 by immunocompetent cells contributes to activate the liver to produce CRP, transudation of plasma albumin and development of the inflammatory condition. Elevated levels of IL-6 in saliva could be expected, because the saliva-producing cells are part of the digestive system. The purpose of this study was to assess salivary IL-6, CRP and albumin in ulcerative colitis patients in relation to oral findings. Materials and methods: Forty eight saliva specimens collected from three groups of subjects (s
... Show MoreAbstract
Coronavirus has affected many people around the world and caused an increase in the number of hospitalized patients and deaths. The prediction factor may help the physician to classify whether the patient needs more medical attention to decrease mortality and worsening of symptoms. We aimed to study the possible relationship between C reactive protein level and the severity of symptoms and its effect on the prognosis of the disease. And determine patients who require closer respiratory monitoring and more aggressive supportive therapies to avoid poor prognosis. The data was gathered using medical record data, the patient's medical history, and the onset of symptoms, as well as a blood sample to test the
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