Study of serum zinc in relation to nutritional status among thalassemia patients in Damanhour Medical National Institute.

Thalassemia results from an imbalance between two proteins in hemoglobin called alpha and beta globin that interferes with cell maturation and function resulting in an ineffective erythropoeisis and hemolysis. Zinc is an essential element that supports normal growth and development. In thalassemia, the expected low serum zinc level is due to hemolysis, loss in urine and inadequate dietary intake. To evaluate serum zinc levels among thalassemia patients and study its relation to nutritional status and growth, a case control study was conducted at Damanhour Medical National Institute. Forty-six thalassemia patients were randomly selected from the attendants of the Hematology Unit and were compared to 20 control children. They were subjected to medical history and examination, anthropometric measurements, assessment of dietary profile, laboratory investigations for CBC, total serum protein, serum albumin, serum zinc. The mean age was 8.29 +/- 3.96 years for cases and 8.45 +/- 3.52 years for controls. Thalassemia patients showed significant lower serum zinc level when compared to and 8.45 +/- 3.52 years for controls. Thalassemia patients showed significant lower serum zinc level when compared to control (88.28 +/- 17.76 microg/dl), and (113.5 +/- 15.39 microg/dl) respectively A positive correlation was found between their serum level and height/age (r = 0.392). Zinc supplementation and nutrition education program are recommended to improve growth rate among thalassemia patients with retarded growth ad low serum zinc levels.