Background: Dyslipidemia is a major cause of
cardiovascular disease, which in turn, is the most
common cause of female morbidity and mortality.
Postmenopausal women (natural and surgical) are at
higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease,
especially coronary artery atherosclerosis.
Objective: To observe the relationship between blood
lipids: total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoproteincholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TGs), and very low
density lipoprotein- cholesterol (VLDL-C), LDL-C/
HDL-C ratio (atherogenic index) and menopausal
status, and to determine the co-factors that may explain
this relationship
Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study, which
includes 279 women, age range from 35-55 years
agreed to participate in this study. They were divided
into 4 groups according to their menopausal status.
These were pre-, peri post- natural and surgical postmenopausal. Data were collected from participants in a
pre-coded questionnaire and an overnight fasting blood
sample was collected for biochemical analysis.
Results: Postmenopausal women had higher levels of
lipids than pre or peri-menopausal. TC concentration
and LDL-cholesterol levels were higher in natural and
surgical menopause than in pre and pri-menopausal
women (p<0.01 and p<0.05 respectively). While
LDL/HDL-C ratio (atherogenic index) were higher in
the surgical postmenopausal women than in premenopausal group (p<0.05). No significant inter-group
differences were found in HDL-C. Triglycerides, and
VLDL levels were higher in surgical menopause group
than in both pre- and peri-menopause groups (p<0.05).
No significant differences were demonstrated in pre-,
peri-, and natural menopausal women with regard to
triglyceride and VLDL levels and LDL/HDL-C ratio.
Conclusion : Dyslipidemia is more frequent among
women with natural and surgical menopause groups
than in the other groups. This makes those women
more susceptible to CVD. Certain co factors appear to
have direct associations with lipid levels in each group
and those were discussed.
Anemia 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 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 MoreBackground: Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial infection that affects the gingiva and bone supporting the teeth. Smoking, which is an important risk factor for periodontitis, induce oxidative stress in the body and cause an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD). This study aimed to evaluate the influence of smoking on periodontal health status by estimating the levels of salivary SOD level in non-smokers (controls) and light and heavy smokers and to test the correlation between the SOD enzyme level and the clinical periodontal parameters in each group. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 75 male, with age ranged from 35 to 50 years. Clinically, the perio
... Show MoreThe impact of exposure to different sizes of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, and PM10) was evaluated in Babylon concrete plant workers who had been exposed to concrete dust for at least 10 years. The effects of these particles on the hematological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and antioxidant enzymes (catalase and glutathione peroxidase ) were examined. The results exhibited that the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were higher than the acceptable limits approved by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The blood parameters, namely white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets counts, demonstrated non-significant differences between workers exposed to the PM as compared to the control gro
... Show MoreBackground: Periodontal diseases (PD) are common chronic inflammatory diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms colonizing the gingival area and inducing local and systemic elevations of pro-inflammatory cytokines resulting in tissue destruction by a destructive inflammatory process. Stress was considered as one of the important risk factors that cause many inflammatory diseases including PD. The purpose of this study wasto determines and compares clinical periodontal parameters (PLI, GI and BOP), stress level and salivary IL-1? level among dental students before, during and after mid-year exam, also to find the correlation among stress, IL-1? and clinical periodontal parameters. Materials and methods: The sample was consisted of 24 dent
... Show MoreBackground: The individual differences in emotional and behavioral style can be examined through personality instruments. These differences may explain the health status of the individuals. The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of Personality Types on gingival and periodontal health status among teachers in Baghdad city in relation to selected salivary hormone (Dehydroepiandrosterone). Materials and methods: Females teachers 534 of randomly selected schools were subjected to personality questionnaire using The Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator. Teachers were examined to estimate the periodontal status according to the Community Periodontal Index (CPI). A group of teachers were selected for salivary analysis of Dehy
... Show MoreBackground: COVID-19 is an ongoing disease that caused, and still causes, many challenges for humanity. In fact, COVID-19 death cases reached more than 4.5 million by the end of August 2021, although an improvement in the medical treatments and pharmaceutical protocols was obtained, and many vaccines were released. Objective: To, statistically, analyze the data of COVID-19 patients at Alshifaa Healthcare Center (Baghdad, Iraq). Methods: In this work, a statistical analysis was conducted on data included the total number, positive cases, and negative cases of people tested for COVID-19 at the Alshifaa Healthcare Center/Baghdad for the period 1 September – 31 December 2020. The number of people who got the test was 1080, where 424 w
... Show MoreThe Current status of biomedical waste of solid, liquid and gaseous formulations from medical and educational laboratories in Iraqi universities and research centers was assessed using a well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to scientists, researchers, medical technicians and graduate students who are directly involved in laboratoiy daily activities. The responses were analyzed statistically and interpreted accordingly. The results showed diat the frequency of questionnaire respondent's affiliation gave the highest percentage frequency (69.4%) with the questionnaire of Technical Medical Institute/Al-Mansour while constitute die responses of the Dnig Control Department/Ministry of Sciences and Technology gave the l
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