Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's chest and Internal Medicine consultation clinics, and in private internist clinics in Kirkuk City, Iraq between January and April 2023. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI-COPD) measured the Burden of COPD. The symptom burden was assessed by the COPD assessment test (CAT). The level of IL-6 monoclonal antibodies was measured via a Roche Cobas 6000 analyzer and TNF-α using the ELISA sandwich technique. All these devices and machines were authorized by the Ministry of Health, Iraq. Results: The mean age was (54.1 ± 8.12) years, 62.5% being males and 37.5% being females; 41.7% were public sector employees, and 39.2% were self-employed. Due to COPD, the overall work loss was (45.9±18.91) days, the mean percentage of absenteeism was (10.9% ± 12.31%), activity impairment was (47.5% ±17.79%) among all patients, presenteeism was (40.8 ± 15.05%,) and COPD-related retirees were 14.2% of the study group. The mean CAT score (19.3±5.63) was high and the most troubling symptom among patients was chest tightness. WPAI-COPD scores were higher in older age and longer disease duration. The levels of biomarkers were above the reference ranges, the mean IL-6 level was (69.4 ± 35.29) pg/ml, and the mean TNF-α was (72.3 ± 22.45) pg/ ml. Conclusions: COPD patients exhibit a disease burden in terms of productivity loss at work and activity impairment that increases with aging and disease duration. COPD patients with low BMI are more prone to a decline in lung functions and to worse symptoms.
Background: Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) occurs in the presence of chronic infection, inflammatory conditions or neoplastic conditions despite of adequate iron and vitamins storage. Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gingiva, periodontitis is the inflammation in the periodontium that extend deeper with loss of connective tissue attachment and supporting bone. The main pathogenesis of periodontal diseases and ACD is immune activation. Aims of study: Determine and compare the clinical periodontal parameters (plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL)). Evaluate the hematocrit (Hct) level, red blood cells (RBCs) count and white blood cells (WBCs) c
... Show MoreThe goal of this study was to investigate the protein peroxidation role by measuring serum levels of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) in type 2 diabetic patients with or without retinopathy and comparing them to controls to see if circulating AOPP levels can be used as a detection biomarker for DR. And see which of the two widely used antidiabetic treatment groups had the most impact on this oxidative stress marker. The groups were divided into two subgroups: 1) 70 type 2 diabetic patients (36 male, 34 female), 35 with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and 35 with no evidence of DR, and 2) non-diabetic controls (11 male, 9 female) were chosen from Ibn AL-Haitham Hospital for Ophthalmology and a Specialized Center for Endocrinology and Dia
... Show MoreBackground: Sex variations in coronary artery disease (CAD) are well documented. However, sex differences in coronary artery calcium (CAC) and its role in the detection of coronary artery stenosis remain controversial. Objective: To assess the impact of sex variation on coronary artery calcification and its efficacy in predicting coronary artery stenosis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study including 230 consecutive patients with suspected CAD (120 men and 110 women) referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). The study analyzed sex-based differences in the sensitivity and specificity of coronary artery calcification (CAC) for detecting moderate to severe stenosis across various coronary arteries
... Show MoreExogenous levothyroxine dose modulation and euthyroidism achievement is a persistent challenge in clinical settings. This study strives to assess the adequacy of treatment and identify the patients’ factors that can be used to estimate the euthyroid levothyroxine dose. A secondary objective was to assess vitamin D supplementation impact on thyroid status.
A review of a prospectively collected information from 142 female patients from Baghdad Center of Nuclear Medicine from June 2019 until March 2020 who were receiving levothyroxine for different causes was done. After a follow-up period, the patients’ thyroid tests were assessed and the euthyroid doses for each cause category were statistically analyzed. Thyroid function was
... Show MoreBackground: The skin functions as a barrier to the external environment, damage to this barrier following a burn disrupts the innate immune system and increases susceptibility to bacterial infection. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the bacterial isolates and study their antimicrobial susceptibility in burned wound infections at one burn's hospital in Baghdad.Type of study:Cross-sectional study.Methods: The bacteria were identified at species level by using Analytic Profile Index (API) system and The antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed according to Kirby-Bauer (disk diffusion) technique.Results: Over a period of one year (from October 2014 to October 2015). Out of 848 patients with different degrees of burns
... Show MoreThe research aims to determine the impact of Human Resources Accounting (HRA) on employee’s performance. The research’s problem was embodied in the lack of interest in HRA, which was reflected on the performance of employees in the Ministry of Education; the research adopted the descriptive-analytical approach, and the research community included the directors of departments and people at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education. The sample size was (224) individuals from the total community of 533. The questionnaire was adopted as the main tool for collecting data and information, as well as the interviews that were conducted by the researcher. In order to analyze t
... Show Morethis research paper aims at measuring and analyzing the influence of the stock exchange on the economic development in the Kingdom. This is done through comparing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a changeable factor affiliated with some independent variables in the KSA stock exchange. These variables are (All Share Index {TASI}, Market Value, Trade Volume Index, number of companies and number of shares). The study covers the period from 2003 to 2017 and adapts the measuring method in analyzing this relation using the Multiple Linear Regression (Stepwise) and (SPSS). The study affirmed the validity of the
... Show MoreThe first chapter includes introduce the research and the problem of the research that there are negligence of some educational institutions and schools management , some parents and supervisors .Also there are some educators who believes that school activities are obstacles means to learning and prevent pupils from studying and understanding the subjects. That may due to social , psychological and educational reasons
The purposes of the researches come from the reports of supervision visits which indicate a lot of difficulties faced by pupils and teachers related to education activities and its influence on in education and the necessity of indentify these difficulties and remedy them
... Show MoreBreast mass is by far the most important clinical problem that concerns the breast today. This study was carried out to evaluate diode laser as a cutting tool in breast mass excision and as a hemostatic tool for coagulation during surgery. Using 810 nm diode laser with optical fiber 600μm in diameter of conical tip, udder (cow's breast) tissue, and three female patients (mean age of 35.5 y with clinically palpable breast mass) had been used in this study. The patients were followed up regularly postoperatively. In preliminary work on udder tissue, the power needed for cutting and excision was 15W (power density= 5.3 kW/cm2). The time consumed for excision of a piece of udder tissue, 40×10×3 mm in dimensions was 5 min. The depth range
... Show MoreThe relation between anemia and inflammatory immune response has lately had much attention. This research was conducted from October 2018 until April 2019, including (110) children below 12 years from both gender in some Hospitals, Primary Health care centers, Public Primary Schools and Kindergarten in Baghdad, Iraq. The objective of this study is to determine the possible correlation between iron deficiency anemia and inflammatory immune response among children infected with Entamoeba histolytica or Giardia lamblia. Blood samples were taken from all groups to measure hemoglobin level, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration
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