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Plasma magnesium levels in a population of psychiatric patients: correlations with symptoms.
Plasma magnesium levels were tested in a group of 155 psychiatric in-patients with a variety of diagnoses and were correlated with the severity of their symptoms. We hypothesized that lower Mg levels would correlate with a higher degree of anxiety, tiredness and other symptoms characteristic of Mg deficiency. No such correlations were observed. However, Mg levels varied widely, with 22.4% below, and 10.4% above the normal range. There was a strong association for more disturbed and excitable patients to have abnormal (either high or low) levels. We speculate that more disturbed patients might have some abnormality of magnesium metabolism with possible therapeutic implications.
Kirov GK, Birch NJ, Steadman P, Ramsey RG.
Magnesium and calcium in drinking water and death from acute myocardial infarction in women.
A relation between water hardness and cardiovascular death has been shown in previous studies. In this case-control study, we investigated the levels of calcium and magnesium in drinking water and death from acute myocardial infarction among women. The study population encompassed 16 municipalities in southern Sweden. Cases were women who had died from acute myocardial infarction between the ages of 50 and 69 years during 1982-1993 (N = 378), and controls were women who had died from cancer (N = 1,368). We obtained magnesium and calcium concentrations of the individual water sources. We divided the subjects into quartiles and found that odds ratios (ORs) were lower at higher levels of both magnesium and calcium. For the quartile with the highest magnesium levels (> or =9.9 mg/liter), the OR adjusted for age and calcium was 0.70 (95% confidence interval = 0.50-0.99). For calcium, the adjusted OR for the quartile with the highest level (> or =70 mg/liter) was 0.66 (95% confidence interval = 0.47-0.94). The results suggest that magnesium and calcium in drinking water are important protective factors for death from acute myocardial infarction among women.
Rubenowitz E, Axelsson G, Rylander R.
Magnesium in drinking water and body magnesium status measured using an oral loading test.
Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse relationship between magnesium in drinking water and death from ischaemic heart disease. The question is whether magnesium in drinking water can be critical for the body magnesium status. The aim of this study was to investigate, using an oral loading test, whether a change in body magnesium status could be found among people who change from drinking water with a low magnesium concentration to water with higher concentrations. The subjects participating in the study were 9 men and 3 women 65-70 years old, living in the city of Göteborg, Sweden, where the magnesium concentration in the tap water is low (1.6 mg/l). Drinking water was prepared with 200 mg MgCl2 x 6H2O added per litre to a level of 25 mg/l, and was distributed to the subjects twice a week for 6 weeks. Excretion of magnesium, potassium and creatinine, basal and after oral magnesium loading (tablets containing 575 mg), was measured in 24 h urine before and after the supplementation period. Calculations were made for the total excretion (mmol/24 h), and in relation to creatinine. The subjects' intake of magnesium via food and water was estimated using a questionnaire. There was a difference between the post load excretion of magnesium, expressed as the magnesium/creatinine ratio, before and after the supplementation period. The mean percentage change was a 14.6% (p=0.047) increase. No changes were found for potassium. In summary, the results indicate that magnesium in drinking water can affect body magnesium status.
Rubenowitz E, Axelsson G, Rylander R.
Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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