Alterations in Serum Magnesium and Electrocardiographic Variables of Adult Hypertensive Humans

As the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases worldwide, Hypertension has been found to be a major public health challenge with high prevalence in Africans and Nigerians especially with a rapidly growing population. It has been postulated that hypomagnesemia contributes to the development of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. This study was therefore undertaken to determine the relationship between serum magnesium levels and electrocardiographic changes in adult humans with hypertension. To achieve this, one hundred and sixty two (162) hypertensives were recruited from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Participants’ Blood pressure, electrocardiographic changes, antihypertensive medications and serum magnesium (Mg2+) levels were investigated. Using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and ANOVA, Statistical measures of association (correlation) were conducted on obtained variables. A low incidence of hypomagnesaemia was observed on the average, with a high incidence of patients presenting with abnormal ECG changes; including Left Ventricular Hypertrophy. In addition, only weak correlations were observed for ECG parameter and serum Mg2+levels for sampled subjects, with p-value returning a statistically significant decrease upon comparison of means (Using the One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA); Other influences like antihypertensive medications, blood pressure duration and control returned an significant (weak negative) correlation with serum Mg2+ concentration. There is therefore a weak negative correlation between serum magnesium levels and ECG variables, including Q wave duration and QT interval duration in hypertensive adults