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
Background :Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was a widely used marker for skeletal and hepatobiliary disorders, but its activity was also increased in atherosclerosis and peripheral vascular disease. Several study has showed that ALP activity was increased in the sera of diabetic patients. The current study was conducted to evaluate ALP activity in type 2 diabetic patients and optimum conditions for enzyme activity in their sera.Methods: This study was carried out at in AL-Yarmok hospital(diabetic center) between February /2009 and April /2009. Fifty two patients with type 2 diabetes have been enrolled. Besides BMI, WHR, serum fasting blood glucose, ALP, HbA1C,uric acid and lipid profile levels have been performed .The relationship bet
... Show MoreAcromegaly is ametabolic disorder characterized by an acquired progressive somatic disfigurement, mainly involving the face, extremities and many other organs, that are associated with systemic manifestations, caused by excessive secretion of growth hormone and a resultant persistent elevation of insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations. In more than 90% of cases originates from a monoclonal benign pituitary adenoma. Aim of this study to assess the level of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in saliva of acromegalic patients, and to compare it with the basal levels of serum IGF-I. Sixty specimens of serum and saliva collected from two groups of subjects (forty acromegalic patients and twenty healthy persons). The specimens were
... Show MoreBackground: Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disease characterized by bilateral stenosis starting at the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA), with the development of a collateral network of vessels. It is an established cause of stroke in the pediatric age group. Despite its increasing prevalence in various parts of the world, it remains largely underrecognized in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq. This is the first case of MMD in an Iraqi patient undergoing surgery. Case description: A 12-year-old boy presents with a 3-months history of progressive behavioural changes. MRI revealed diffuse infarcts of different ages. MRA and CT angiography revealed extensive asymmetrical steno-occlusive changes of t
... Show MoreAnti-tumor necrosis factor treatments for inflammatory bowel disease face challenges like primary nonresponse and secondary loss of response, often due to antidrug antibodies that increase drug clearance. The Fc-gamma receptors type3A (FCGR3A) (rs396991) polymorphism affects infliximab pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity. This study investigates its influence on trough levels, anti-infliximab antibody development, and clinical outcomes in Iraqi ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. This single-center study involved patients on maintenance infliximab therapy who were enrolled. Serum infliximab trough levels and anti-infliximab antibodies (antibodies to infliximab) (free and total) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Genotyping
... Show MoreGhrelin and leptin are hunger hormones related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the pathogenesis of T2DM is the abnormality in insulin secretion and insulin resistance (IR). The aim of this study is to evaluate ghrelin and leptin concentrations in blood and to specify the relationship of these hormones as dependent variables with some biochemical and clinical measurements in T2DM patients. In this study, forty one T2DM and forty three non-diabetes mellitus (non-DM) subjects, aged between 40-60 years and with normal weight, were enrolled. Fasting serum ghrelin and leptin were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In our results ghrelin was significantly increased, and leptin was significantly decreased, in T2DM pa
... Show MoreBackground: Prostatic adenocarcinoma is the most widely recognized malignancy in men and the second cause of cancer-related mortality encountered in male patients after lung cancer.
Aim of the study: To assess the diagnostic value of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and its quantitative measurement, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), in the identification and localization of prostatic cancer compared with T2 weighted image sequence (T2WI).
Type of the study: a prospective analytic study
Patients and methods: forty-one male patients with suspected prostatic cancer were examined by pelvic MRI at the MRI department of the Oncology Teaching Hospital/Medical City in Baghdad
... Show MoreBackground: The association between periodontal diseases incidence and development and the metabolic diseases as Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity are recently have attract great deal of researchers attention and investigation. The periodontal health proved to reduce the systemic inflammatory reactions and positively improve the glycemic control of diabetes Type2 patients. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of oral hygiene control on the glycemic control of obese and normal weight moderately controlled Diabetic Type 2 patients, in addition to study the association of obesity with the gingival inflammation. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional study of three months duration. Included 30 moderately controlled diabetic type2 p
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In the present work the effect of bearing compliance on the performance of high speed misaligned journal bearing lined with a compliant PTFE liner lubricated with bubbly oil at high speeds has been studied. The effect of induced oil film temperature due to shearing effect has been implemented. Hydrodynamic effect of the complaint bearing and the influence of aerated oil have been examined by the classical thermohydrodynamic lubrication theory modified to include the effect of oil film turbulence and oil film temperature with suitable models for bubbly oil viscosity and density. The effect of liner elastic deformation has been implemented by using Winkler model. The effects of variable density and s
... Show MoreBackground: To evaluate the bony supports of the teeth adjacent to the area of cleft in patient with unilateral cleft lip and palate and to compare these measurements with the measurements of the same teeth in non-cleft side by using CBCT. Materials and methods: The CBCT scans of 30 patients having cleft lip( unilateral) and palate(unilateral), were analyzed and the measurements of the alveolar bony support for teeth that are adjacent to the cleft area were measured with those teeth located on opposite side (non- clef) side. For each tooth, the measurements will taken for the distance between the( cementoenamel junction) (CEJ) and the bony crest (AC) at the( buccal area) was measured and the thickness of the buccal plate At zero, one, tw
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