Introduction: Obesity became a major public health burden worldwide and its prevalence rate in adults during the last forty years has been increasing in the developed and developing countries. Its prevalence among Iraqi women in 2020 was about 40%. Some studies suggested that calcium supplementation could accelerate weight loss and treat obesity. Objectives: To determine whether calcium intake during a weight loss program affects reduction of Iraqi women weight and whether there is a difference in the weight loss of both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal obese women after giving them calcium. Methods: An Interventional study was carried out on 50 overweight or obese Iraqi women "premenopausal or at least 3 years post-menopausal". They had been engaged in 6 month interventional program to reduce their weight through ingestion of calcium orally. Their BMI was measured in the beginning and in the end of that course. Results: The mean age among the participants was 45.4 ±17.3 years. 52% of them were premenopausal and 48% were postmenopausal. The reduction of BMI after 6 month calcium supplementation course was 74% among the whole women; which was significant, 88.5% among the premenopausal, which was also significant, and 58.3% among postmenopausal, which was not significant.

Introduction: Ischemic heart diseases (IHD) are prevalent worldwide and they are considered a rapidly increasing common reason for death. Vitamin D3 plays a role in cardiovascular health and its deficiency is also prevalent. Objectives: To measure the prevalence of vitamin D3 deficiency among Iraqi patients with IHD and to explore any potential relation of this deficiency with other variables. Patients and Methods: Vitamin D3 level was determined among fifty patients with IHD who attended the Iraqi Center for Heart Diseases in Baghdad, to evaluate its role in this group of patients through a cross-sectional study. Results:The mean age of all participants was 55.2 ± 8.9 years, while for those with vitamin D3 deficiency was 57.55 ± 7 years. 66% of the participants were males, 82% were living in urban areas, 58% were smoking, 76% had a family history of IHD, 52% and 62% of them were hypertensive and diabetic sequentially, 58% had a high total cholesterol, 22% had a low HDL, 38% had a high LDL, and 42% had a high TG level. The vitamin D3 mean value for the ischemic participants was 21.8 ng/dl. Among those patients, 14% had sufficient vitamin D3 levels, 24% had insufficient levels, and 62% had a deficiency. Conclusion: The deficiency of vitamin D3 exists in 62% of Iraqi ischemic patients. Vitamin D3 deficiency is associated with an increased prevalence of IHD.

Introduction: COVID-19 is an emerging viral infection whose pathogenic mechanisms are not well understood. Interestingly, Vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 share prevalence patterns for hypertension, diabetes, obesity, advanced age, and male sex. Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to our understanding of COVID-19 health disparities. Patients and methods: a cross sectional study involving 100 adult hospitalized patients with positive PCR for COVID-19 at Diwaniyah teaching Hospital / Shiffaa center, Diwaniyah, Iraq, during a period of 3 months. The serum 25 OH-D level was measured and Vitamin D deficiency, defined as a 25(OH) D level < 20 ng/mL, and insufficiency define as a 25(OH)D level 30-20 ng/mL. History of some other underlying health diseases (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypothyroidism and gastro esophageal reflux disease) was taken directly from the patients. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 26 and the study aimed to measure serum vitamin D level among COVID-19 patients. Result: The mean ± SD age was 38.8±13.7 years ranging between 18- 67 years. The mean±SD of 25(OH)D levels was 20.2±16 ng/mL. Vitamin D deficiency was present in 58 patients and vit D insufficiency was found in 25 patients.