European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Airway inflammation and hyper reactive bronchial tissue are hallmarks of bronchial asthma. The purpose of this study was to compare the blood serum electrolyte values of patients with asthma to those of a healthy population in order to establish if there is a distinction between those with intermediate asthma and those with persistent asthma.
Methods: This case-control study focused on asthma patients treated at Department of Respiratory Medicine, Mamata Medical College and General Hospital, Khammam, Telangana, India. Twenty patients with both mild and severe cases of asthma were randomly assigned to groups with healthy sex-and age-matched subjects, and both groups were monitored for six months. No attempt was made to determine if secondary electrolyte disturbances might have been involved. Serum blood samples could be analysed to reveal sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus levels.
Results: The results showed that those with sporadic symptoms were significantly different from those with persistent symptoms (P 0.001). The prevalence of hypomagnesemia and hypokalemia was highest in the persistent and intermittent asthma groups, respectively, in the asthma patient population. The effects of low sodium, calcium, and phosphorus levels were negligible.
Conclusion: Asthma patients tend to have abnormal concentrations of sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphate, the study's authors concluded. Asthma patients typically had low magnesium levels and high potassium levels. Overall, the serum potassium, sodium, and magnesium levels were found to be higher in the group with intermittent asthma than in the group with persistent.