Background:
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major global public health problem in the worldwide and isincreasing in aging populations. Magnesium intake may be one of the most important factorsfor diabetes prevention and management. Low magnesium intake may exacerbate metabolicabnormalities. In this study, the relationships of magnesium intake with metabolicparameters, depression and physical activity in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes wereinvestigated.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study involved 210 type 2 diabetes patients aged 65 years and above.Participants were interviewed to obtain information on lifestyle and 24-hour dietary recall.Assessment of depression was based on DSM-IV criteria. Clinical variables measuredincluded anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and biochemical determinations ofblood and urine samples. Linear regression was applied to determine the relationships ofmagnesium intake with nutritional variables and metabolic parameters.
Results:
Among all patients, 88.6% had magnesium intake which was less than the dietary referenceintake, and 37.1% had hypomagnesaemia. Metabolic syndromes and depression wereassociated with lower magnesium intake (p < 0.05). A positive relationship was foundbetween magnesium intake and HDL-cholesterol (p = 0.005). Magnesium intake wasinversely correlated with triglyceride, waist circumference, body fat percent and body massindex (p < 0.005). After controlling confounding factor, HDL-cholesterol was significantlyhigher with increasing quartile of magnesium intake (p for trend = 0005). Waistcircumference, body fat percentage, and body mass index were significantly lower withincrease quartile of magnesium intake (p for trend < 0.001). The odds of depression, centralobesity, high body fat percentage, and high body mass index were significantly lower withincreasing quartile of magnesium intake (p for trend < 0.05). In addition, magnesium intakewas related to high physical activity level and demonstrated lower serum magnesium levels.Serum magnesium was not significantly associated with metabolic parameters.
Conclusions:
The majority of elderly type 2 diabetes who have low magnesium intake may compound thisdeficiency with metabolic abnormalities and depression. Future studies should determine theeffects of increased magnesium intake or magnesium supplementation on metabolic controland depression in elderly people with type 2 diabetes.