Background: During Ramadan, Muslims fast throughout daylight hours. There is a direct link between fasting and increasing incidence of infections. Antibiotic usage for treatment of infections should be based on accurate diagnosis, with the correct dose and dosing regimen for the shortest period to avoid bacterial resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the practices of physicians in prescribing suitable antibiotics for fasting patients and the compliance of the patients in using such antibiotics at regular intervals. Materials and methods: An observational study was carried out during the middle 10 days of Ramadan 2014 in two pharmacies at Baghdad. A total of 34 prescriptions (Rx) for adults who suffered from infections were examined. For each included Rx, the researchers documented the age and sex of the patient, the diagnosis of the case, and the name of the given antibiotic(s) with dose and frequency of usage. A direct interview with the patient was also done, at which each patient was asked about fasting and if he/she would like to continue fasting during the remaining period of Ramadan. The patient was also asked if the physician asked him/her about fasting before writing the Rx. Results: More than two-thirds of participating patients were fasting during Ramadan. Antibiotics were prescribed at a higher percentage by dentists and surgeons, for which a single antibiotic with a twice-daily regimen was the most commonly prescribed by physicians for patients during the Ramadan month. Conclusion: Physicians fail to take patient fasting status into consideration when prescribing antibiotics for their fasting patients. Antibiotics with a twice-daily regimen are not suitable and best to be avoided for fasting patients in Iraq during Ramadan – especially if it occurs during summer months – to avoid treatment failure and provoking bacterial resistance. Keywords: fasting, Ramadan, antibiotics, dosing regimen
The practice of self medication is continuously increasing worldwide due to its important roles in curing minor conditions or symptoms. This study was conducted to evaluate the factors associated with self medication practice of Iraqi respondents residing in Baghdad City. This study was designed as cross sectional study in which data was collected via direct interviews with respondents using a previously prepared questionnaire. This study investigated 348 respondents from different age groups. The majority of respondents were male aged between 30-60 years, married with secondary or academic level of education and employed with accepted monthly income. The main reason for practicing self medication was previous experience with the same condi
... Show MoreGenerally, different propositions show that culture changes because of many factors, and acculturation has emerged out of important operations which lead to cultural change as a result of contact between different societies or cultures. Since the cultural environment with its varying effects plays a major role in the formulation of architectural products, the research defined its research problem as follows: There is need for knowledge to specify the results of acculturation at the level of plans of house architecture belong to Iraqi elites in Baghdad city during the late Ottoman rule in Iraq(1830-1917). The research depends on the comparative procedure to define the acculturation results, so the plans character of
... Show MoreDuring recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the investigation of the cytokines roles in pathogenesis of cancer, thus the study aimed at evaluating the level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-?) in sera of Iraqi multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Beta 2-microglobulion (?2-m) was assessed to determine if there was any association between this cytokine and the level of ?2- m, as the latter is related to the stage of the disease. In addition, the age and gender were also taken into consideration. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between IgG and TNF-? in sera of patients. 49 Iraqi patients (27 males and 22 females).The patients were also divided into two groups: the first group included (17) patients who were
... Show MoreMyoma is a common benign uterine tumor; therefore
it is common in pregnancy. One in ten women will
have complications related to myoma in pregnancy.
Few treatment options are available during pregnancy,
conservative treatment with analgesia, reassurance and
supportive therapy is almost always adequate but in
carefully selected patients, myomectomy has been
performed successfully without jeopardizing
pregnancy outcome. The usual indications for surgery
during pregnancy include torsion of pedunculated
uterine myoma and obstructed labor, surgical
intervention during pregnancy is occasionally
necessary in uncommon cases of intractable pain.
19 years old lady presented with intractable lower
abdominal
Abstract
The decision maker needs to understand the strategic environment to be addressed through different means and methods. It is obvious that there is a difference between the three strategic environments (conflict environment, peace environment, post- peace environment) in terms of inputs and strategies to deal with each one of them. There is an urgent need to understand each pattern separately, analyze its inputs, and identify the factors and variables that affect the continuity of this situation (conflict, peace, post-peace). It is not appropriate to identify treatment without diagnosis of the condition, so it is very important to understand the type of strategic environment to be dealt with it.
... Show MoreIt is clear that correct application of antibiotic prophylaxis can reduce the incidence of infection resulting from the bacterial inoculation in a variety of clinical situations; it cannot prevent all infections any more than it can eliminate all established infections. Optimum antibiotic prophylaxis depends on: rational selection of the drug(s), adequate concentrations of the drug in the tissues that are at risk, and attention to timing of administration. Moreover, the risk of
... Show MoreIt is clear that correct application of antibiotic prophylaxis can reduce the incidence of infection resulting from the bacterial inoculation in a variety of clinical situations; it cannot prevent all infections any more than it can eliminate all established infections. Optimum antibiotic prophylaxis depends on: rational selection of the drug(s), adequate concentrations of the drug in the tissues that are at risk, and attention to timing of administration. Moreover, the risk of infection in some situations does not outweigh the risks which attend the administration of even the safest antibiotic drug. The aim of this study was to comp
... Show MoreAnkylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common, highly heritable inflammatory arthritis affecting primarily the spine and pelvis. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the rs27044 polymorphism in Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase-1 (ERAP-1) with the susceptibility and severity of AS correlated with some biochemical markers such as hematological parameter (Erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR)) and immunological parameters (C-reactive protein (CRP), Human leukocyte antigen-B27 (HLA-B27), Interlukin-6 (IL-6) and Interlukin-23 (IL-23)), and oxidative stress parameters (Glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA)) in a sample of Iraqi population. A total of 60 blood samples were collected from AS patients requited Rhe
... Show MoreAbstract: E2F6 is a member of the E2F family of transcription factors involved in regulation of a wide variety of genes through both activation and repression. E2F6 has been reported as overexpressed in breast cancers but whether or not this is important for tumor development is unclear. We first checked E2F6 expression in tumor cDNAs and the protein level in a range of breast cancer cell lines. RNA interference-mediated depletion was then used to assess the importance of E2F6 expression in cell lines with regard to cell cycle profile using fluorescence-activated cell sorting and a cell survival assay using (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). The overexpression of E2F6 was confirmed in breast tumor cDNA samp
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