Serum zinc levels in diabetic patients and effect of zinc supplementation on glycemic control of type 2 diabetics.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The present study is an attempt to assess serum zinc level in a sample of diabetic patients (both type 1 and type 2 diabetics) in comparison with those of apparently healthy controls, and to ascertain the relationship between the levels of serum zinc with some epidemiological variables.

Who Took Part

The study group was 2 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

In the first part of the study (a case-control study), the diabetic group included 133 diabetic patients (type 1 and 2) who were chosen from patients attending the Diabetic Center during the period of the study.

The control group included 133 apparently healthy subjects who were selected from the workers of the same hospital.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, single-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Only one side, usually the patients, was kept unaware of whether Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc was given.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Collection of data was carried out during the period between November 2002 to February 2003 at the Diabetic Center of Merjan Teaching Hospital in Babil Governorate, Iraq.

Selection of cases and controls was carried out by using systematic random sampling procedure.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Diabetes Mellitus, Glycated Hemoglobin, Sex Factors, Trace Elements, Zinc and Zinc Sulfate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, single-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 2 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 8 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2006 (Saudi medical journal), a journal based in Saudi Arabia.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.