Miray Hasan, Sadia Sultan, Sana Ashfaq, Syed Mohammed Irfan.
Hypomagnesemia in Type II Diabetes Mellitus Patients; An Experience From a Tertiary Care Center.
Ann Pak Inst Med Sci Jan ;13(2):144-8.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of hypomagnesemia in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus at a tertiary care center in Karachi. Methodology: This was a descriptive, prospective, cross-sectional study done over a 7-months period. 187 cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus were included. Basic patient demographics such as age, gender, and duration of disease were recorded. Serum magnesium levels were determined by Randox Colorimetric method. Hypomagnesemia is defined as level below 1.6mg/dl. Result: The mean age of the patients was 53.830±8.771 years. Out of 187 patients, 62 (33%) were males and 125 (67%) were females. The male to female ratio was 1:2. The prevalence of magnesium deficiency (magnesium levels ≤ 1.6 mg/dl) was 30%. The positive correlation of hypomagnesemia was established with age (P=0.033); highest in 46-55 years. Proportion of deficiency was higher in patients on oral hypoglycemic agents and also was pronounced in first decade of disease manifestation. Conclusion: Hypomagnesemia is not uncommon in our patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. We saw a strong association with age. Since hypomagnesemia is associated with increased frequency of diabetic complications and hence increased morbidity and mortality, we suggest that serum magnesium levels be regularly monitored in these patients. Further large-scale studies evaluating associations of diabetic complications with hypomagnesemia are definitely required.

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