Background: Leukemia is a broad term given to a group of malignant diseases characterized by diffuse replacement of bone marrow with proliferating leukocyte precursors. Chemotherapy has been increasingly used to treat malignant conditions. The systemic sequelae as a result of these immunosuppressive techniques induce many oral and dental complications. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of chemotherapy on oral health status and activity of salivary alkaline phosphates enzyme in patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Materials and methods: The study groups included 28 patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia; they were under chemotherapy, aged 20-25 year old. The control group includes healthy subjects matching with study group. Plaque, gingival, calculus and loss of attachment status were recorded. After oral examination, stimulated saliva samples were collected from the subjects (study & control groups) and performed under standard condition following instruction and chemically analyzed for the detection of salivary alkaline phosphates enzyme. Results The study showed higher mean values of plaque index, gingival index, attachment loss and concentration of salivary alkaline phosphates enzyme among leukemic group than control group with statistically high significant differences. Conclusions: It was concluded that patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia have poor oral hygiene and need intense oral hygiene program before, during and after chemotherapy.
Background: Nutrition can affect periodontal disease through contributing to microbial growth in the gingival crevice, affecting the immunological response to bacterial antigens and assisting the repair mechanism of the connective tissue at the local site after injury from plaque and calculus. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of Oral hygiene (plaque and calculus) and gingivitis in relation to age, gender and nutritional status. Materials and methods: The sample included (444) kindergarten children at age of (4 and 5 years old) males and females from urban areas in Al-Ramadi city. The assessment of nutritional status was performed using anthropometr
... Show MoreBackground: Dental caries is the most common oral problem, although dental caries is not life threating, it has aharmful effect on quality of life. Socioeconomic factors were found to be strong predictors of the prevalence of oral diseases in children, likes family income, occupational prestige, and education. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of socioeconomic factors on occurrence dental caries in their children. Materials and methods: The sample consists of 550 kindergartens children aged between (4-5) years were selected randomly, girls and boys. The kindergartens selection was randomly from different geographical areas in Al-Najaf governorate. Information was taken from children's parents using questionnaire with the help o
... Show MoreThe study was conducted for the detection of Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) in the serum and urine of 42 early and middle childhood patients (26 male and 16 female ) with renal function disease, liver function disease, in additional to atrophy in the growth and other symptoms depending on the information within consent obtained from each patient, in addition to 8 children, apparently healthy, as the control. The technique of HPLC was used for the detection of AFB1 from all samples. The results showed that out of 42 patient children, 19 (45.2%) gave positive detection of AFB1 in the serum among all age groups patients with a mean of 0.88 ng/ml and a range of (0.12-3.04) ng/ml. This was compared with the cont
... Show MoreBackground: Crohn's disease (CD) is an immunological disorder associated with chronic inflammatory process of several unspecific regions of gastrointestinal tract but frequently detected in the terminal Ilium and proximal colon or both. This disease frequently presented with various oral manifestations as a consequence of inflammatory process of the disease, nutritional deficiency or medications side effects. Several therapeutic approaches have been developed for CD management that are targeting the inflammatory process and directed at controlling the host immune response. Immunosuppressants such as Azathioprine and anti-TNF α agents as well as the combination of them have been widely used as an effective therapeutic modality with a bett
... Show MoreThe present study aimed to look for the differences in the oxidative stress status in sera and saliva samples of type 2 diabetic Iraqi patients with and without proliferative diabetic retinopathy. As well as to look for the possibility whether this status can be measured in saliva as an alternative sample to that of serum, hence to achieve that total oxidant status, total antioxidant status and oxidative stress index were measured in both sera and saliva samples of two groups of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the healthy individuals. Upon the comparison between patients without proliferative diabetic retinopathy and the control sample the results showed presence of a significant increase (p < 0.05) of total oxidant st
... Show MoreAnemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are the two most important types of anemia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Functional iron deficiency in ACD can be attributed to overexpression of the main iron regulatory hormone hepcidin leading to diversion of iron from the circulation into storage sites resulting in iron-restricted erythropoiesis. The aim is to investigate the role of circulating hepcidin and to uncover the frequency of IDA in RA. The study included 51 patients with RA. Complete blood counts, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, and hepcidin- 25 were assessed. ACD was found in 37.3% of patients, IDA in 11.8%, and combined (ACD/IDA) in 17.6%. Serum hepcidin was higher in ACD than in con
... Show MoreBack ground: Oral lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the mucous membrane of the mouth. Several researchers suggest that oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of this disorder. It has been hypothesized that melatonin is powerful anti-oxidants and can easily cross the cell membrane and is considered a free radical scavenger of Hydroxid, Oxygen and Nitrogen dioxide, cortisol as a stress hormone and the immunoglobulin A as first line of defense and protection to the mucous membrane of the mouth are interrelated factors for the emergence of oral lichen planus. Aim of this study was to evaluate the level of melatonin, Cortisol and IgA in saliva of patients with oral lichen planus lesions in comparison with p
... Show MoreMental disorders (MDs) are a common problem in Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs). Many people with serious MDs are challenged by symptoms and disabilities that result from the disease and by stereotypes and prejudice due to misconceptions about mental illness. This study aims at evaluating the knowledge, and attitude toward mental health concepts and services and causes of the reluctance to seek those services among people attending PHCCs. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The random sampling technique was used to include (10) of Directorates of Health (DoHs) coverage north, middle, and south of Iraq. The study was executed in (50) selected PHCs, (5) PHCCs in each DoH involved randomly selected (30) people attending th
... Show MoreCommunication skills are essential for health professionals to achieve a positive relationship with patients, improving their health and quality of life. Communication is the foundation for obtaining medical history and conveying a diagnosis and treatment plan.
To assess the knowledge, practice of communication skills among primary care physicians, to find out any barriers related to the communication skills, and the association between the studied variables with knowledge and practice of communicati