Sankar Selvaraj 1 , Geetha Durai 2 , Ilamaran Murugesan 3 , Indhuja 4 , P. Sureshkumar 5 , Manivel Ganesan
BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with chronic tissue damage, reduction in function, failure of multiple organs and its complications are preferably caused by macrovascular and microvascular damages. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of chronic hyperglycaemia on lung functions, which focused on mechanical aspects of lung dysfunction, maximal forced spirometric pulmonary function tests like FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC to be specific. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study is a cross sectional study conducted among 50 people with type 2 diabetes and 50 people with non-diabetes without having risk factors that affect the lung functions. RESULTS In our study correlation between HbA1C and Pulmonary function is statistically significant (p value is <0.0001). . Most of the patients with elevated levels of HbA1c had the abnormality in the pulmonary function tests mainly the restrictive pattern of the lung disease. The patients with diabetes have 14% normal and 80% with restrictive lung disease and 6% with obstructive lung disease of pulmonary function tests. In non-diabetics 78% having normal and 12% having restrictive pattern and 10 % having the obstructive pattern of lung disease. In our study both FEV1 and FVC are reduced in diabetics, in which FVC have reduced more than FEV 1 so that F EV1/FVC has increased, and the ‘p’ value is significant in all the parameters according to independent sample t test. CONCLUSION It is clearly shown that diabetes will affect the lungs too and mainly restrictive pattern of lung disease is common. Chronic uncontrolled diabetes is one of the leading cause of lung complications. So an intensive management will decrease the rate of death by an improved ventilatory function.
