BACKGROUND: The number of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) positive patients and fatalities keeps rising. It is important to recognize risk factors for severe outcomes. Evidence linking vitamin D deficiency and the severity of COVID-19 is tangential but substantial – relating to race, obesity, and institutionalization. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the function of vitamin D and nutritional defense against infections such as COVID-19, which is the goal of this research. METHODS: This study includes observational cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies that estimated variances in serum levels of vitamin D among patients with mild or severe forms of COVID-19, and in patients who died or were discharged from hospitals. Studies that assessed the risk of developing severe disorder or death in patients with vitamin D deficiency, defined as levels of vitamin D< 20 ng/mL, were also encompassed. RESULTS: In a retrospective study on 464,383 individuals, results showed that individuals who had the highest risks for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and for COVID-19 severity when infected, had vitamin D levels < 30 nmol/L; Odds Ratio (OR) were 1.246 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.210–1.304] and 1.513 [95%CI: 1.230–1.861], respectively. Additionally, in a retrospective observational study of 191,779 individuals in the USA. The SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate was greater in the 39,190 subjects with vitamin D < 20 ng/mL [12.5%, 95% C.I. 12.2–12.8%] than in the 27,870 subjects with sufficient serum vitamin D levels [8.1%, 95% C.I. 7.8–8.4%] and in the 12,321 subjects with serum vitamin D ⩾ 55 ng/mL [5.9%, 95% C.I. 5.5–6.4%]. CONCLUSION: People hospitalized for COVID-19 should be checked for vitamin D status and supplemented, and high-dose-in testing should be considered in the recovery trial. More importantly, screening for malnutrition and the administration of the best nutritional supplements are essential for the immune system of the human body to function as it should be. Thus, nutritional supplementation is crucial for people with risk factors as well as older adults with compromised immune systems.
Background: Post-partum depression (PPD) is a form of postnatal depression that affects mothers. Clinical manifestations usually appear within six months after delivery. Risk factors that influence the severity of post-partum depression are not fully known in the Iraqi population.
Objectives: We aim to evaluate the risk factors and identify potential predictors that may influence the symptom levels (severity) of post-partum depression among Iraqi women from Baghdad.
Subjects and Methods: The current study is cross-sectional, and we used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and a cut-off value of 13 to differentiate patients into two those with lower symptom levels (LSL) and higher symptom levels (HSL). We also explored p
New Schiff bases derived from D-galactose were synthesized by condensation of aldehyde (1,2:3,4-Di-O-isopropylidene-6-carboxaldehyde-α-D-galactopyranose) with different aromatic amines such as (4-bromo, 3-hydroxy, 4-iodo, 4-methoxy) aniline in dry benzene using glacial acetic acid as a catalyst. These compounds were converted to oxazepine derivatives by addition reaction with maleic anhydride in dry benzene as a solvent. The structures of the synthesized compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR spectra, some of them by using 1HNMR spectra and measurement of its physical properties.
Metronidazole therapy is recommended in the treatment of giardiasis,athough some clinical reports mention the resistance to this drug from many pathogens. Many studies were applied to show the effect of probiotic to prevent or to heal diseases of gastrointestine, but only few is known about probiotic activity against infections of protozoa. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of Bifidobacterium against infection with Giardia lamblia in experimental mice. It was found that daily application of viable Bifidobacterium cells with a single dose (0.1ml∕mice∕day) significantly reduced the shedding of Giardia lamblia parasite cysts in feces, and infection completely disappeared at the da
... Show MoreBenign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a prevalent condition among elderly and middle-aged men characterized by symptoms such as dysuria, urinary incontinence, and frequent micturition. The gold standard procedure for relieving BPH symptoms is transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). However, some patients undergoing TURP are at risk of developing urinary tract infections (UTIs) due to uropathogenic bacteria. This prospective study aimed to investigate post TURP bacteruria alongside with multifactoria risk factors that implicated postoperatively compared to preoperative and intraoperative periods. Ninety patients undergoing TURP and 30 control subjects were included in the study. Urine specimen for urine analysis from pateints
... Show MoreObjectives: To assess the level of dependence severity, locus of control, and readiness to change in male alcohol clients and measure the correlation between dependence with a locus of control and readiness to change.
Methodology: A descriptive correlational design was conducted in the substance use rehabilitation centers at psychiatric teaching hospitals in Baghdad city from November /2021 to May 2022. The instrument of the study was designed by using sociodemographic, the clinical characteristics of the client, the Short-form Alcohol Dependence Data Questionnaire (SADD), Drinking Related Internal-External Locus of Control Scale: (DRIE), and the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES). The data was co
... Show MoreBackground: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a significant role in the activation of adaptive immunity and may have an essential role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objectives: To assess the gene expression of TLR4 in individuals with RA compared to healthy individuals. Methods: From July to December 2022. A total of 100 individuals were encompassed in the study, consisting of 50 individuals diagnosed with RA, of whom 42 were females and 8 were males, with an average age of 45.22 years. Additionally, there were 50 healthy control participants, 40 of whom were females and 10 were males, with an average age of 45.64 years. To assess the TLR4 transcript levels, blood samples were collected from each participant, and RN
... Show MoreThe researcher deals with an important issue in her research - especially as she progresses to the doctoral stage thanks to God (Almighty) and his mentor - the relationship of philosophy to nodal origins. Therefore, she studied the philosophy of Shirazi, which is the key to the mental solutions that the speakers and philosophers stopped. And to conclude scientific results as well as the study of philosophy researcher as a station in the doctoral stage, to be familiar with the philosophical interpretation and the origins of the faith and its philosophical vocabularies such as existence, self, movement, astronomy, time and others. At the same time draw the attention of science students to the issue of philosophical interpretation and its r
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The scholars of Iraq have rich contributions to enrich this science and other Islamic sciences. Many of them presented the juices of their ideas to build and defend Islamic civilization, and among them are those who took care and carried this scientific trust upon themselves and conveyed it (Sheikh Muhammad Taha Al-Balisani (may God have mercy on him), who was a prominent scholar in His era, where he presented antiquities, opinions, and ideas worthy of attention and study.
He was the author of many books, some of them printed, and some of which are manuscripts, waiting for someone to bring them out to the light of life, verify them and present them to Islamic libraries, because our libraries are i
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