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

Toxoplasmosis is a widespread infection usually caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite. It occurs in humans and other warm blooded animals, causing severe problems. It was found that there is an alteration in the trace elements concentrations levels associated with some human diseases. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the concentrations of some trace elements (Mg, Fe , Zn, and Cu) in the sera of 60 immunocompetent patients with chronic toxoplasmosis and 82 healthy individuals as a control group. Measuring the serum level of seropositivity rate of anti-T. gondii antibodies was done by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) Kit, while the concentrations of trace elements were measured by absorption spectrophotometry

Vitiligo is an acquired idiopathic skin disorder characterized by depigmented macules due to loss of cutaneous melanocytes. A potential role of the immune dysfunction has been suggested in vitiligo, so to test this hypothesis, certain cytokines (IL-17A and TNF-?) and immunoglobulins (IgM, IgG, IgA and total IgE) were investigated in all participants. The study included: 60 patients with age range between (6-55) year; 30(11 males and 19 females) were untreated and 30(12 males and 18 females) were treated with Narrow Band Ultraviolet-B (NB-UVB) and 30 (14 males and 16 females) apparently healthy control. Serum was separated and cytokines (IL-17A and TNF-?) and total immunoglobulin E (IgE) were detected by using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Ass

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for chronic periodontitis (CP) and hyperglycemia has an important role in the enhancement of the severity of the periodontitis. It has been reported that the progression of CP causes shifting of the balance between bone formation and resorption toward osteoclastic resorption, and this will lead to the release of collagenous bone breakdown products into the local tissues and the systemic circulation. Cross-linked N-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) is the amino-terminal peptides of type I collagen which is released during the process of bone resorption. This study was conducted to determine the effects of nonsurgical periodontal therapy on serum level of NTx in type 2 diabetic patients

The objective of this study was to evaluate the alteration in levels of gonado trophins hormones i.e.,Leutizing (LH),Follicular(FSH) in sera of patients with thyroid disorders and molecular binding study of (LH ,FSH) with their antibodies The study was conducted at the specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes from January / 2009 to March / 2010.Two hundreds and twenty three Iraqi subjects, 109 patients with thyroid disorders at age range between (40-50) years and 114 healthy individuals as control group were included in this study.The majority of patients were female with hyperthyroidism and (49.54 % ) were at age range between(40 - 50) years. The levels of hormones(LH,FSH.tri iodothyronine(T3).thyroxine(T4), thy

Background: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction that results in fluctuating muscle weakness as well as significant fatigue. Disease exacerbation is a critical condition, and the predisposing factors for it need to be identified to improve preventive measures.

Objectives:  Our study aims to determine the predisposing factors for myasthenia gravis exacerbations in a group of Iraqi patients.

Subjects and Methods: A total number of 30 myasthenia gravis patients were admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation of their symptoms, determined as the development of functional disability, dysphagia, or respiratory fai

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) represents the most prevalent kind of thyroid gland cancer, making up around 80% of all occurrences of thyroid cancer. Evidence shows that Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) expression is lost in a number of benign and malignant epithelial neoplasms, although its expression profile in thyroid gland neoplasms is yet unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess SDC-1 expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients, as well as the relationship between age and gender and SDC-1 expression. To undertake a detailed investigation of SDC-1 in normal and malignant tissues, tissue sections were used to examine SDC-1 expression in 70 tissue samples, 50 distinct PTC (6 males and 44 females) and 20 normal tissue ty