No abstract

Objectives: The research study aims to estimate the prevalence of the stroke, to evaluate the stroke associated risk factors, and to determine the factors and symptoms associated with the knowledge of the stroke among the Palestinian population. Furthermore, to find the association between matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels and the stroke, the concentration of MMP-9 in the serum of stroke patients was measured. Methods: The research study includes a cross-sectional survey that was conducted. The serum MMP-9 levels were also measured in 11 stroke patients using an ELISA reader. Statistical analysis was performed by GraphPad Prism version 8. Sociodemographic characteristics of stroke patients associated with stroke among the Palestinian population were also obtained and analyzed. Results: The higher incidence of the stroke was in the patient’s ages between 51 and 60 years old, with 30 patients (46%) of the total stroke patients. The majority of the stroke patients 40 (60.6%) were having enough income. Most of the stroke patients (29, 43.9%) were none educated. The majority of the stroke patients 48 (72.2%) had a family member/s who has been diagnosed with a stroke. Most of the stroke patients 60 (90.9%) have sudden numbness, weakness in the face, arms, and legs. All the samples analyzed showed a marked increase in MMP-9 concentration. Conclusions: The prevalence of stroke and the high risk of stroke were high among adults aged ≥51 years in Palestine. Hypertension was the highest risk factor for stroke. The serum MMP-9 could be an important prognostic factor for the stroke.

Objectives: The study aims to determine the incidence of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in chronic kidney disease patients, the correlation between creatinine, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and phosphate, and calcium in renal disease. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed, a total of 100 hemodialysis patients’ reports were analyzed from January 2019 to December 2019, at Hebron Governmental Hospital, in Hebron, Palestine. The patients’ data were collected, including creatinine level, calcium, and phosphorus in addition to PTH concentrations. Twenty-five healthy persons with normal kidney function were also included in the study as a control for comparison. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22 was used to analyze the data. T-test and Pearson’s tests were used to study the results. R (Pearson’s test) was used to determine the correlation between creatinine, PTH, phosphate, and calcium. Results: The mean values of serum of creatinine, phosphate, calcium, and PTH were determined for both patients and the control. Levels of PTH were significantly higher in kidney failure patients and positively correlated with creatinine and phosphate. However, levels of PTH were significantly negatively correlated with calcium. All patients included in the study have very high levels of PTH PTH. This increase might be due to many factors that contributed to the hypersecretion of PTH. The correlations between these predisposing factors of SHPT are explained. Conclusion: The study showed that SHPT is common among patients with end-stage renal disease. The most complications of SHPT are mineral and bone metabolism disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, early detection and treatment of SHPT may control these complications.

Objective: Coronavirus is a positive-strand RNA virus in which consists of a certain virus that infects both animals and humans; including the recent one which is known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Coronavirus has been a significant threat in November 2019. Methods: The review focus on full coverage of the epidemic state of the virus worldwide, major diagnostic approaches used, the therapeutic drugs types and approaches used, the pathology and pathogenesis of the disease in infected patients and its consequences in addition to the virus and the major guidelines for the disease management in different countries. Different literature and guidelines among different databases were searched. Literature reviewing was conducted using the following search engines, Google Scholar, Medline, Pub Med, Web of Science, and Science Direct, so in order to better reveal the published peer-reviewed articles about  SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and 2019-nCoV. Results: SARS-CoV data collected in this review will give help to medical researchers and further decision-makers, social and economic makers concerned with health status, and pandemic infections among countries in different aspects. As understanding, the disease and the different responses to this virus could help to find immune-based therapeutics or/ and traditional medicines. By June 1st2020, the pandemic cases are about six million worldwide and the number is rising everyday sharply. While the actual and accurate causes and effective treatment of COVID-19 are still unknown or unavailable and the number of active cases of the infection is rising every day which rising panic and concern on public health worldwide. The greatest number of new cases and deaths of COVID-19 were reported in the USA, Brazil, Russia, Spain, the UK, Italy, Germany, and France. This growing number of cases is due to the person-to-person transmission that has been reported both in and outside of China. In Palestine, the pandemic cases were about 600 by the end of May 2020. In June 28th 2020 coronavirus cases were 10,088,576, deaths 501,442, and recovered 5,466,534 globally. The cases increased very sharply within a short period (about three weeks); in Palestine, the spread of the disease is also nearly tripled by this time (1,815 cases reported). The outbreak of the disease is extremely very fast as by the end of June (within only one month period), the cases have been nearly doubled as the coronavirus cases confirmed were 10,690,566, deaths 516,393 (8%), and recovered are 5,856,464 worldwide. The high incidence rate and cases were also in the USA (2,751,571), then Brazil (1,426,913), Russia (654,405), etc. In Palestine by this time, at the end of June, the reported cases were increased very sharply by about six times; as more than 3,095 cases were reported including East Jerusalem (337 cases), with 11 deaths. The highest cases (1947 cases) were in Hebron Governorate; with these confirmed cases Palestine ranked 97 among 215 countries that have coronavirus; with the highest outbreak rate in the world; compare to population number. Conclusions: The pandemic by COVID-19 is a very dangerous issue affecting people worldwide. Without fundamental therapeutic interventions, current management is to reduce the virus spread and provide supportive care for diseased patients. There is an urgent need to develop targeted therapies. Understanding the disease and the different responses to this virus could help to find immune-based therapeutics or/ and traditional medicines. It is important to have the latest information but we must ensure that information is coming from trustworthy sources. We have collected a variety of helpful resources related to COVID-19. We also have several initiatives to get the public involved in our work and educated on how to make informed health decisions. The global impact of this new pandemic is yet uncertain.