Saswat Subhankar, Geetanjali Panda, Jyoti Patnaik
BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a collection of conditions characterised by persistent airflow limitation. It is recognised as an important cause of global burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Being a multicomponent disease characterised by abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs with systemic muscle dysfunction, a growing body of evidence has suggested a role of magnesium in exacerbations of COPD. Magnesium, owing to its ability to alleviate bronchospasm may have a role in maintaining disease stability in COPD patients. In the current study, we hypothesised that basal serum magnesium level must have some role in airway homeostasis and that a dysregulation results in decompensation. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, during the period of October 2012 to September 2014 and was designed on a case-control model with 40 patients in each group. RESULTS Patients with acute exacerbation of COPD had a mean serum magnesium level of 1.88 ± 0.19 mg/dL (95%, CI). Among the stable COPD patients, the mean serum magnesium level was 2.0625 ± 0.18 mg/dL (95%, CI) (p<0.0001). Magnesium deficiency was more common among smokers as compared to nonsmokers (OR=2.83). CONCLUSION We consider that observed association between serum magnesium and acute exacerbation of COPD to be substantial both in terms of the statistical power of the study and clarity of our findings. This is a modifiable risk factor and we recommend that serum magnesium be determined in all patients admitted for acute exacerbation.
