Serum magnesium in pregnancy induced hypertension

Background: PIH is a major cause of maternal & perinatal morbidity & mortality worldwide because of its complications. The etiology of PIH is uncertain but appears to be related to uteroplacental ischaemia. Magnesium is one of the principle macronutrients, regulates vascular tone, causes relaxation of muscles of uterus and decreases excitability of nerves & muscles. Hence the study was planned to estimate and compare the levels of magnesium between women with PIH and normal pregnant women.Methods: The study comprised of thirty clinically diagnosed PIH patients and thirty gestational age-matched controls. Serum magnesium was estimated spectrophotometrically. Results: Significant decrease was observed in magnesium levels in women with PIH as compared to normal pregnant women. Conclusion: The decreased serum magnesium levels may indicate its possible role as one of the risk factors in the development of PIH in pregnant women. Hence the screening of clinically diagnosed cases of PIH for hypomagnesemia may help in minimizing the complications of PIH. Hypomagnesemia could be treated with magnesium supplementation and follow up of the patients for complications would be necessary to comment further

Serum total Calcium level in patients with Thalassemia

Introduction: Thalassemia is a genetic disorder characterized by the complete absence or reduced synthesis of α or β globin chains. The mainstay of treatment of severe β thalassemia is regular blood transfusion. Repeated blood transfusion results in hypoparathyroidism and in turn hypocalcemia due to iron overload. The aim of the study was to evaluate calcium status in thalassemia patients by estimating and comparison of serum total calcium and iron levels between normal and thalassemic patients. Methods: The study comprised of clinically diagnosed β thalassemia Major patients and age matched controls. Results: The results revealed stastically significant decrease in serum total calcium in thalassemia patients as compared to normal while serum iron levels found to be increased indicating iron toxicity. Discussion: On diagnosis as well as periodic assessment of thalassemia patients for hypocalcemia may be beneficial and if found calcium and vitamin D supplementation may be carried out in order to improve their bone health