Hypomagnesemia in Iraqi diabetic patients and healthy controls : an exploratory study

Abstract EN

Background : Diabetes mellitus has been suggested to be the most common metabolic disorder associated with magnesium deficiency, and because available data suggest that adverse outcomes are associated with hypomagnesaemia, it is prudent that routine surveillance for hypomagnesaemia be done and the condition be treated whenever possible.

Aim of the study: To explore the serum Mg concentrations of diabetic patients and healthy controls in our locality.

Mehtods : One hundred and forty four diabetic patients (22 with type I and 122 with type II diabetes mellitus) recruited from the outpatient diabetes clinic at the Specialized Center For Endocrine Diseases-Baghdad (62 patients), National Diabetes Center-Al Mustansiria University (20 patients), and from private endocrinology practice clinics in Baghdad (62 patients), during the period from 1st October 2005 to 30th April 2006.

Ninety non-diabetic healthy controls matched for age and sex were participated in this study.

Exclusion criteria for both groups included diarrhea and loop diuretics..

None were taking Mg supplements.

Level of Mg and Albumin were determined spectrophotometerically in the same serum samples.

Results : Mean serum Mg concentrations of the diabetics was significantly lower than in controls (p < 0.001).

Serum albumin was not a significant predictor of serum Mg neither among diabetic patients (r = 0.005) nor control subjects (r = 0.139).

In 88.9% of the diabetic patients and 11.1% of the control subjects serum Mg concentrations were below the normal reference range of 0.70 mmol / L.

The prevalence is increased when hypomagnesaemia is defined by a reference limit of 0.75 mmol / L (98.6% and 28.9% for diabetics and controls, respectively), a further higher prevalence among controls (91.1%) was noted when 0.80 mmol / L is adopted as the lower normal limit.

All diabetics (100%) and controls (100%) were identified as hypomagnesaemia with a lower reference limit of 0.90 mmol / L.

Conclusion : The tremendous hot climate of ours, can be suggested as an influential cause for increased Mg losses, and may provide a coherent explanation for the exceedingly high prevalence of hypomagnesaemia observed in diabetic and control subjects participated in this study.

Which therefore may suggest an inevitable requirement for magnesium supplementation to avert hypomagnesaemia, not only among diabetics, but as well for controls, particularly through the hot summer episode.