Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus in Thalassemia Patients Referring

Major thalassemia is the most common hereditary anemia in Iran. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and other endocrine disorders are frequent in thalassemia patients that need regular blood transfusion due to iron overload. This study aims at determining the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in thalassemia patients referring to Ganjavian hospital in Dezful.
This descriptive study was performed on 50 beta-thalassemia patients aged above 5 years old in 2013. For this study, we Examined patient's Fasting blood sugar two times within a month. The serum ferritin levels were measured in these patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.
Prevalence of impaired FBS was 15.3% in male and 37.5% in female. Significant correlation was found between the prevalence of DM and desferal taking. In this study the prevalence of DM was 12% and prediabetes was 14%. Prevalence of DM in female patients was significantly higher than that in male patients.
This study shows that patients with Thalassemia major are more susceptible to Diabetes mellitus. In patients with impaired fasting glucose, nutritional counseling should be done to prevent disease progression to diabetes. Also Measuring the FBS in thalassemia patients is recommended in their therapeutic section.