The Relation between Serum Magnesium Level and Acute Exacerbation of Asthma in Children Admitted to Rapareen Teaching Hospital in Erbil city

Abstract

Background and objectives: Asthma is a common disease caused by chronic information and increased responsiveness of pulmonary airways with airflow obstruction. Magnesium in extracellular fluid is crucial for normal neuromuscular activities, and its deficiency is associated with increased contractility of smooth muscle cells including bronchiolar wall leading to bronchospasm. The aim of this study is to detect the prevalence of hypomagnesemia among asthmatic children and to find out any significant correlation of hypomagnesemia with asthma in children. Methods:A case control study performed in Erbil city, from January 2017 to January 2018. One hundred asthmatic patients aged (3-13) years were examined, all of them had acute asthmatic attacks with respiratory distress for which they were admitted to (Rapareen Pediatric Teaching Hospital). The control group included 100 healthy non asthmatic children who visited the hospital with their parents. Blood samples were taken to measure serum magnesium level. Statistical analysis performed by statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS19). Results: the mean serum magnesium in patients group was (1.91± 0.33) mg/dl and it was significantly lower than control group it (2.03± 0.33) mg/dl. Serum magnesium level decreased with increasing severity of asthma symptoms. Conclusions: Serum magnesium level is significantly lower in asthmatic children as compared to the control group, serum magnesium level decreased as the duration of asthma is longer but not significantly, there was an inverse relation between serum magnesium and the severity of asthma, no significant change in its serum level was found when steroids and bronchodilators are used