Study of Serum Magnesium Levels in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetics show a high prevalence of magnesium deficiency. For type 2 DM patients, hypomagnesemia has a deleterious effect on blood glucose regulation and insulin sensitivity as well as on the development of complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and atherosclerosis. The objective of this research is to evaluate the prevalence of hypomagnesemia in patients with type 2 DM and their associations with diabetes microvascular complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and macrovascular complications like ischemic heart disease, hypertension and cerebrovascular accident.METHODSThe research population was formed by patients with type 2 DM admitted to Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College and Research Institute. The sample size was 50 cases of diabetes and 50 non-diabetic controls. Calamite dye method was used to test the concentration of serum magnesium.RESULTSPrevalence of hypomagnesemia was 42 percent in study subjects. Between hypomagnesemia and diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, a major correlation was found. Co-morbidities such as ischemic heart disease, hypertension and cerebrovascular accident have not found any significant associations. Low concentrations of serum magnesium are common in type 2 DM. Hypomagnesemia is linked to diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy.CONCLUSIONSHypomagnesemia prevalence in type 2 diabetics is 42% which is significantly higher than non-diabetic controls. For patients with microvascular diabetic complications, the prevalence of hypomagnesemia is higher than in those without macrovascular complications. Retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy are significantly associated with hypomagnesemia. For ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and cerebrovascular disease, no substantial correlation was seen. Prevalence of hypomagnesemia was high in patients with HbA1c>7%. Hypomagnesemia was more common in males. There was no significant association of diabetes duration with hypomagnesemia.