Background: The problem of excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of public health concern in most countries of the world today. Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists recommended that every inpatient should be screened with a questionnaire for alcohol related problems. Therefore, this work was carried out to report on alcoholism in the emergency unit in two general hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq.
Methods: The study was carried out in Al-Sader general hospital (Al-Sader city, Baghdad) and Baghdad teaching hospital (Baghdad) for the period 1st July 2008 to 1st May 2009. Data collection was two days per week. Version of 25 items Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) and semi-structured schedule based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) criteria for alcohol dependence were used. Males aged 16 – 70 years attended emergency units were included in the study.
Results: There were 11% had alcoholism. Alcoholism was significantly associated with age > 40 years, married, low educated and employed (p= 0.02, 0.002, 0.03, respectively). Alcohol dependence was significantly associated with younger age (< 40 years), single, low educated, early onset of drinking (< 30 years) and positive family history of alcoholism (p=0.006, 0.004, 0.004, 0.004, 0.005, respectively). Sensitivity and positivity of MAST were 86.7% and 60.7%, respectively.
Conclusion: High prevalence of alcoholism was reported among attendents to emergency units.
End Stage Renal Disease is a well-known global public health problem. Maintenance hemodialysis is considered a life-saving treatment for patients with such disease. This treatment method that requires patients to be adherent to hemodialysis attendance, dietary and fluid recommendations as well as adherence to prescribed medications to ensure success. The aim of the current study was to assess adherence, perception, and counseling among hemodialysis patients to different modalities of treatment (fluid restriction, dietary recommendations, medications, and hemodialysis schedules). A cross-sectional study carried out on hemodialysis patients who attended to the dialysis centers at al- Karama teachi
... Show MoreBackground: Iraqi people have endured an excess burden of morbidity’ and mortality during the last two decades due to wars and sanctions. This report M’as carried out to assess the nutritional status of first year primary school children.
Methods: A total of3881 school children in Balad district in Salahadin govemorate was included in the study. Age, height and weight were recorded. Malnutrition was regarded as value of less than 2 SD of the reference value.
Results: Among the total sample, 16.5%, 20.06% and 15.3% were underweight, stunted and wasted, respectively. No significant difference was detected in malnutrition rates between both sexes. Conclusion: High rates of malnutrition were detected among school children.
<
Background: Menopause can bring oral health problems and also associated with significant adverse changes in the orofacial complex. After menopause, women become more susceptible to periodontal disease due to deficiency of estrogen hormone. Current study aimed to evaluate the periodontal health status in relation to salivary constituent including pH, flow rate and some elements (Magnesium, Calcium and inorganic phosphorus) of pre and post-menopause women. Materials and Methods: Periodontal health status of 52 women aged 48-50 years old (26 pre-menopause and 26 post-menopause) were examined including (gingival index, plaque index, calculus index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level). Salivary sample was collected for two women
... Show MoreBackground: The periodic review conducted of acute bacterial meningitis in children younger than 5 years of age in Baghdad to reflect changes in the epidemiological pattern of this infection.
Patients and Methods: Sixty patients with signs and symptoms suggestive of meningitis who were admitted to Central Teaching Hospital in Baghdad City were included in a prospective study started from the 1st October till the 30th of December 2009. By bacteriological study, biochemical and cytological study in the laboratory, WBCs in the blood with differential count was done to support the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis.
Results: Present study revealed that from (60) patients (6) cases (10.0 %) showed posi
Cardiovascular diseases CVD are responsible for the majority of death in many countries, the term cardiovascular disease CVD includes several diseases such as: coronary artery diseases (angina, myocardial infaraction MI, atherosclerosis) and stroke. These diseases cause elevation of TC, TG, LDL, VLDL, and MDA levels in plasma and decrease of HDL levels and PON activity in plasma, because of elevation in lipid peroxidation (LPO) activity. Catechins is a water extract of green tea composed of: (-)epicatchin EC, ECG, EGC, EGCG, (+) catechin C and GC, these compounds play great roles against chronic diseases such as CVD. The effect of catechins extract on the preceding biochemical parameters was investigated in 40 volunteer male
... Show MoreBackground: syndrome X or metabolic syndrome is a collection of multiple diseases mainly visceral obesity , hypertriglyceridemia , decrease HDL level, hypertension and elevated fasting blood glucose that lead to accelerated atherosclerosis through multiple mechanisms, one of the most important is increase inflammation of the vessels manifested by elevated high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP).Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of elevatedhs CRP in people with metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis complication (IHD, Cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease) and metabolic syndrome without these complication.Patients and methods:;This is a cross sectional study carried out in Diabetic referral c
... Show MoreStudy the role of CoQ10 and IGFBP-1 in obese male patients with diabetic mellitus type 2. ELISA method was used to assay Serum CoQ10 and IGFBP-1. Blood was taken with drawn sample from 30 obese normal patients with age range (40-60) years, 30 diabetic patients with age range (40-60) years at duration of disease (1-5) years and 30 normal healthy patients. The mean difference between T2DM according to CoQ10 (12.5±1.1) was decreased than the mean of IFG (21.8±3.2) (P 0.002) and the mean difference between T2DM according to IGFBPs (0.65±0.06) was decreased than the mean of IFG (3.2±0.3) (P 0.000). While no significant difference between mean age of DM2 patients (55.5±1.06), and IFG (55.6±0.9) (p 0.90), no significant difference bet
... Show MoreFunctional dyspepsia is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms and attributed to various causes including Helicobacter pylori infection. AIM OF THE STUDY: To correlate Helicobacter pylori infection to functional dyspepsia and to identify the possible risk factors for this infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients who were referred to the endoscopy unit for dyspepsia symptoms, secondary gastric causes of dyspepsia were excluded during endoscopy, gastric biopsies were taken for histopathological study and for bedside urease test for detection of Helicobacter pylori infection. RESULTS: 62% of non-ulcer dyspeptic patients were infected with Helicobacter pylori, 74.2% of the patients were above 30 years old, female gender patient
... Show MoreBackground: Drug resistant epilepsy is defined as failure of adequate trials of two tolerated, appropriately chosen and used antiepileptic drug schedules to achieve sustained seizure freedom. Up to 30% of patients referred to clinics with a diagnosis of pharmaco-resistant epilepsy may have been misdiagnosed, and many can be helped by optimizing their treatment.Pseudoresistance, in which seizures persist because the underlying disorder has not been adequately or appropriately treated, must be ruled out or corrected before drug treatment can be considered to have failed.
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the causes of drug failure in patients with epilepsy and to differenti
... Show MoreBackground: Although the issue of anemia after renal transplantation (RT) has received increasing attention lately, the data on the exact prevalence of post-transplantation anemia (PTA) in the Iraqi patients are limited.
Objective: In this study we sought to determine the prevalence of PTA among Iraqi patients and to correlate the renal allograft function measurements and the use of immunosuppressant with the prevalence of anemia.
Patients and Methods: One hundred and twelve (74 male, 38 female) kidney transplant recipients (KTR) attending the kidney transplant center at surgical specialties hospital were studied. All patients were on maintenance, combined immunosuppressive therapy. The renal function