<b><i>Background:</i></b> Poor adherence to treatment regimens is a complex problem, especially for those with chronic illnesses. Noncompliance is believed to be the most common reason for treatment failure in diabetic patients, leading to the absence of metabolic control and accelerating disease-related complications. Data on the adherence of people with diabetes in Iraq are lacking. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The purpose of this study was to measure the rate of adherence among Iraqi patients with diabetes. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Specialized Endocrine and Diabetes Center in Basra, southern Iraq, during the period from June to August 2018. Data were collected by completing an interviewing questionnaire consisting of 13 questions. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 231 patients were included in the study (54.5% were female). Mean age was 51.85 ± 13.55 years. 65.4% of the participants were taking their medications at the right times. The most common reason for not taking their medication (48.8%) was difficulty in remembering the dosage times. 40.7% of the participants were sedentary. Only one-third of the patients followed their doctors’ instructions regarding diet. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The rate of adherence to medication regimens and lifestyle advice was unsatisfactory in this study group. The awareness of diabetic patients and their caring physicians about the importance of adherence to therapy, exercise, and diet should be emphasized.

Background: understanding the prevalence of postmenopausal symptoms, their order in frequency, as well as the age at onset of menopause in the community is an important step to provide the best quality of care for menopausal women. Objective: to investigate the prevalence of postmenopausal symptoms, menopausal age of onset and perception of menopause among women in Basra southern Iraq. Methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted in two major hospitals in Basra Southern Iraq (Al Mawani Teaching Hospital and Al Shifaa General Hospital), from 1/1/2019 to 1/6/2019. Five hundred participants were interviewed by a questionnaire. Results: the participants` age ranged from 41-65 years. The mean age at menopause was 47.7 ± 2.1 years. The most common complaints were hot flushes (70.8%) followed by back and joint pain (49%), night sweats (32%) and insomnia (25.6%). There was a significant association between age at menopause with body mass index (p=0.00) and the number of menopausal symptoms (p=0.009). While there were no significant relationships between age at menopause and education status (p=0.38), marital status (p=0.133), employment (p=0.86), or income (p=0.12). Conclusion: despite the fact that the participants were aware of menopause and its natural occurrence, minority of them sought medical advice or received hormone replacement therapy. Hot flushes are the most common presenting symptom.

Objectives: This study aims to detect the association of the OCT1 genetic polymorphism with the efficacy and gastrointestinal side effects of metformin in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and drug naïve patients in Basrah/Southern Iraq. Methods: This was a prospective cohort population-based study of (102) newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics from February 2022 to December 2022. Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, drug naïve patients with an HbA1c range of (6.5-9.9) were included in the study. All the participants received immediate-release metformin. Metformin responders were patients whose HbA1c levels decreased by ≥1% after three months of treatment. Patients were genotyped for one of the most common SNPs in the OCT1 gene (SLC22A1): M420del (rs72552763) of axon 7, using ARMS- PCR genotyping assays. Results: Gastrointestinal side effects were observed in 15% of the patients. Out of the total of 102 participants, 69 were responders and 33 were non-responders. The homozygous genotype (AA) “reference type” of the SLC22A1 (rs72552763) gene polymorphism was significantly found in the responders' group; p-value = 0.0001. The homozygous genotypes (deletion/deletion) of the SLC22A1 (rs72552763) gene were more common among the non-responders' group; p-value = 0.0001. About 87% of those with gastrointestinal side effects carried the AA genotype. All the patients without gastrointestinal side effects carried the homozygous del/del genotype; P-value 0.005. Conclusions There was a significant association between the rs72552763 gene polymorphism and metformin efficacy and GI side effects.