Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role. The treatment guidelines recommend theuse of a second controller drug in addition to medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) rather than the use of high doses ICS alone in the treatment of moderate-severe persistent asthma. This study was conducted to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of three treatment regimens in Iraqi patients with moderate-severe persistent asthma.The study included three groups; each group included 15 patients. Patients were administered beclomethasone inhaler alone 1500-2000 μg/day, beclomethasone inhaler 750-1000 μg/day plus oral controlled release aminophylline tablets 450 mg/day or beclomethasone inhaler 750-1000 μg/dayplus oral montelukast tablets 10 mg/day for 4-5 weeks. Patients were followed 2 weeks and 4-5 weeks after the baseline visit. In all of the three groups,significant improvements were noticed in pulmonary function test parameters (FEV1, FVC, FEF50%) and the asthma symptom records (day-time symptoms,night-time symptoms, number of salbutamol puffs per 24 hours), while there were no significant differences among the groups. Regarding side effects, onlythe group of inhaled steroid plus aminophylline tablets showed discontinuation of drug therapy in some patients which could be attributed to the development of serious side effects.It was concluded that the administration of a second controller agent was important to use lower doses of inhaled beclomethasone. It was concluded alsothat montelukast was associated with a lower incidence of serious side effects than aminophylline which could make aminophylline an alternative to montelukast as combination therapy with medium doses ICS in the treatment of moderate-severe persistent asthma
Retreatment Efficacy of Continuous Rotation Versus Reciprocation Kinematic Movements in Removing Gutta-Percha with Calcium Silicate-Based Sealer: SEM Study, Raghad Noori Nawaf*, Ra
KE Sharquie, JR Al-Rawi, AA Noaimi, RA Al-Khammasi, Iraqi Journal of Community Medicine, 2018
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects mainly the synovial membranes and articular structures and is characterized by chronic, systemic inflammation involving multiple joints.Being a synovial joint, the Temporomandibular Joint is subject to the same disorders affecting other synovial joints, including RA.Beside it was considered as a specific serological marker for diagnosing RA disease ,antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide have proven to be associated with joints destruction, though; it may play a potential role in the prediction of the disease severity. Materials and Methods: Sixty nine individuals (69) were enrolled in this study, forty nine (49) were patients diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, a
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune diseasecharacterized by chronic inflammationthat affects joints and cartilage. Bone complications such asRA-relatedosteoporosis are one of the most extra-articular manifestations. Many inflammatory mediators are released during RA disease pathophysiology; these mediators stimulate osteoclast genesis of bone by direct effects on RANKL and OPG. The study aimedto measure RANKL, OPG in RA patients treated with Etanercept only and other groups treated with Methotrexate onlyat baseline and after three months to evaluate bone state. An observational case-control prospective study was done on 30 RA patients who received MTX, 30 RA patients who received ETN, and 30 healthy,age-matched control groups. The
... Show MorePorosity and pore structure are important characteristics of pharmaceutical tablets, since they influence the physical properties, such as mechanical strength, density and disintegration time. This paper is an attempt to investigate the pore structure of four different paracetamol tablets based on mercury porosimetry. The intrusion volumes of mercury were used to calculate the pore diameter, pore volume and pore size distribution. The result obtained indicate that the variation of the pore volume in the tablets followed the sequence:- S.D.I. Iraq? Pharmacare,Dubai-U.A.E.? Bron and Burk(UK) London?Lark Laboratories(India), while the variation of surface area followed the sequence:- S.D.I. Iraq? Lark Laboratories(India)? Pharmacare,Dubai-U.A
... Show MoreBackground: As a multifactorial disorder, temporomandibular joint (TMD) is difficult to diagnose, and multiple factors affect the joint and cause the temporomandibular disorder. Standardization of clinical diagnosis of TMD should be used to reach a definite clinical diagnosis; the condylar bone may degenerate in accordance with these disorders. Aims: Evaluate the correlation between the clinical diagnosis and degenerative condylar change (flattening, sclerosis, erosion, and osteophyte). Materials and Methods: A prospective study with a study group of 97 TMD patients (total of 194 joints) aged 20 to 50. Patients were sent to cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) to assess the degenerative condylar change. Results: No association was found bet
... Show MoreThe relationship of hyperuricemia to kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension and the risk of cardiovascular diseases remain controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of uric acid (UA) levels to find the higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with end stage renal disease that have diabetic nephropathy (DN), nephropathy with hypertension (NH) and patients with both diabetic nephropathy with hypertension (DNH). This study deals with 115 patients with end-stage renal disease under hemodialysis sub-grouped into 35 patients with (DN), 40 patients with (NH), and 40 patients with (DNH). Some biochemical parameters were determined in the serum of all participants such as HbA1c, fasting blood glucose (FBG), UA, urea,
... Show MoreBackground: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most commonly encountered valve lesion in modern clinical practice. Severe mitral regurgitation may cause systolic dysfunction. Left ventricular ejection fraction may not be an accurate measurement of LV function in patients with mitral insufficiency. Myocardial performance index (MPI) is a simple non invasive measure of myocardial function. Methods: The study involved 50 patients with valvular mitral regurgitation and 50 healthy subjects as a control group. Transthoracic echocardiography was carried out for all patients and control group. The echocardiographic measurements included left ventricular end diastolic and end systolic dimensions, left atrial diameter, ejection fraction (EF), and myoca
... Show MoreBackground: Helicobacter pylori are important gastrointestinal pathogen associated with gastritis, peptic ulcers, and an increased risk of gastric carcinoma. There are several popular methods for detection of H. pylori (invasive and non-invasive methods) each having its own advantages, disadvantages, and limitations, and by using PCR technique the ability to detect H. pylori in saliva samples offers a potential for an alternative test for detection of this microorganism. Materials and methods: The study sample consists of fifty participants of both genders, who undergo Oesophageo-gastrodudenoscopy at the Gastroenterology Department of Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital Baghdad/ Iraq, during five months period from January 2014 to May 2014. They we
... Show MoreObjectives: To identify quality of life (QOL) in Myocardial Infarction (MI) patients, and to find out the
relationship between QOL in MI patients and demographic characteristics.
Methodology: A descriptive colTelation study which utilized an assessment approach. The study was carried out
from March 2007 through November 2007 in order to assess the quality of life for patients with myocardial
infarction. A purposive "non-probability" sample of (75) patients with myocardial infarction who were attending
to Baquba General Hospita`l through their visits to that hospital. A questionnaire was adapted and developed
from the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (1998). The questionnaire was designed and
consisted