Serum Magnesium Levels: A Key Issue For Diabetes Mellitus.

ABSTRACT

The global burden of diabetes mellitus is expected to increase by 42% (from 51 million in year 1995 to 72 million by 2025) and by 172% (from 84 to 288 million) in the developed countries. The disease leads to many complications and one of them is electrolyte imbalance which has been an ignored subject. Amongst the electrolytes, magnesium merits special attention. The aim of the present study was to assess serum magnesium levels in Type 2 diabetics. A hospital based cross- sectional study was performed on 50 diabetic patients attending the OPD of medicine department from January 2011 to July 2011, M.M. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana (Ambala). Thirty age-matched healthy controls were also selected for the sake of comparison. Blood was withdrawn and serum magnesium levels were estimated by colorimetric method using Xylidyl blue dye. The results were analyzed using Student's unpaired 't'test. Serum magnesium levels among normal healthy controls (n=30) ranged between 1.8-3.0 mg /dl (mean ±SD = 2.33±0.37 mg/dl), while the levels of serum magnesium in diabetic patients (n=50) ranged between 0.2-2.25 mg/dl (mean ±SD = 1.62±0.47). The difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Levels of serum magnesium were significantly lower in diabetic patients as compared to normal healthy controls. Therefore, hypomagnesaemia is a key issue in diabetes which, if corrected, is expected to result in a better management of the disease.