Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory respiratory disease. Stress hormones may increase in asthma and expected to induce hyperglycemia. Some anti-asthma medications increase blood glucose levels e.g. Beta-agonist, while others are known hyperglycemic agent’s e.g. steroids. People who have experienced stress hyperglycemia during severe illness have a threefold risk of developing diabetes in subsequent years, and it may be appropriate to screen for diabetes in survivors of critical illness.

Aim: The aim of this study is to assess hyperglycemia patients with bronchial asthma, to the best of our knowledge; this is the first study to assess serum level of HbA1c among patients with bronchial asthma in Duhok, Iraq.

Methods: A case-control study conducted at the medical ward, department of internal medicine at Azadi Teaching Hospital in Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq from 1st June 2016 to 30th January 2017. Seventy five patients and seventy five controls were enrolled in this study. HbA1c measurements were performed on blood samples of patients and controls.

Results: The study revealed that the rate of hyperglycaemia was higher in cases of bronchial asthma in comparison to healthy controls (P=0.001). Our data suggest that the HbA1c level were elevated in 26(34.6%) of patients and in 4(5.3%) of controls. Levels of HbA1c was not significant in chronic use of corticosteroid both inhaler and oral type, salbutamol inhaler, current use of corticosteroid both intravenously and orally, and duration of bronchial asthma (P>0.009).

Conclusion and recommendations: Hyperglycemic control might improve risk assessment in those patients with bronchial asthma. Measurement of RBS besides HbA1c in asthmatic patients is essential. Hyperglycemia more probably is associated with bronchial asthma itself rather than its treatments. In patients admitted to a medical ward with acute bronchial asthma, glucose levels should be monitored closely.