Plasma Magnesium Levels, Hypomagnesaemia, Cancers, Other Diseases and Associated Factors among Tanzanian Patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55677/IJCSMR/V2I5-02/2022Keywords:
Magnesium, Hypomagnesaemia, Hypermagnesaemia, Diseases, Cancer, TanzaniaAbstract
Background: Although plasma magnesium deficiency may contribute to high cancer burden, data in sub-Saharan Africa is either scanty or unavailable which hinders intervention strategies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of magnesium derangements with cancers, other diseases/factors among patients at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), Tanzania.
Method: One month cross-sectional study (October 2019) involving magnesium testing. Demographics and laboratory results were retrieved and analyzed using SPSS. The cut-off point for deficiency was <0.66mmol/L and P-value ≤0.05 was statistically significant.
Results: Out of 972 samples tested, 264(27.2%) showed hypomagnesaemia, including males 103[39.2%] and females 161[61.0%] (M:F ratio=1:1.6). Males had lower mean plasma magnesium levels compared to females (P-value=0.048) with a decrease in magnesium levels with increasing age (P-value=0.000). A negative correlation between age and magnesium (P-value=0.004) suggested an age-and-sex-dependent discrepancy. Interestingly, hypomagnasaemia was more frequent in cancers (31.9%) and mean levels for cancers (0.7377mmol/L) appeared lower than for non-cancers (0.8622mmol/L) and infections (0.8686mmol/l) P-value=0.001. Solid tumors were mostly (96.2%) associated with hypomagnesaemia (P-value=0.001). Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers (43.4%), lymphomas (22.6%) and gynaecological malignancies (15.1%) were more frequently associated with hypomagnesaemia (P-value=0.000).
Conclusion: Almost one third of tested samples at MNH during the study period showed hypomagnesaemia, which was more associated with cancers, mostly solid including GI, lymphomas and gynecological cancers. Hypomagnesaemia seemed to increase with increasing age. Plasma magnesium derangements appeared more frequently in females. This is the first time the association of hypomagnesaemia with disease is documented from Tanzania. Larger studies will allow further elucidation.
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