Magnesium deficiency and heart disease--some Medline
abstracts
A quick search of Medline brought up numerous references to
the connection between magnesium deficiency and heart disease.
Some excerpts from Medline Abstracts appear below.
2016 Magnesium Levels in Drinking Water and Coronary Heart Disease Mortality Risk- Lei Jiang, Pengcheng He, Jiyan Chen, Yong Liu, Dehui Liu, Genggeng Qin and Ning Tan
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Eisenberg MJ, Magnesium deficiency and sudden death
(editorial), AM Heart J 1992 Aug; 124(2):544-9
A link between Mg deficiency and sudden death is suggested
by a substantial number of studies published over the past three
decades. Data come from epidemiologic, autopsy, clinical, and
animal studies. They suggest that: (1) Sudden death is common in
areas where community water supplies are Mg-deficient. (2)
Myocardial Mg content is low in people who die of sudden death.
(3) Cardiac arrhythmias and coronary artery vasospasm can be
caused by Mg deficiency and (4) Intravenous Mg reduces the risk
of arrhythmia and death immediately after acute myocardial
infarction. Because of these data, Mg supplementation has been
proposed as a possible method of reducing the risk of sudden
death. Suggested ways of supplementing Mg include public
education to change dietary habits, addition of Mg to community
water supplies, fortification of foods, and oral supplementation.
Despite the substantial number of studies linking Mg deficiency
with sudden death, no prospective studies have yet investigated
whether large-scale Mg supplementation is useful for the primary
prevention of sudden death.
Lasserre B, et al, Should magnesium therapy be considered for
the treatment of coronary heart disease? II. Epidemiological
evidence in outpatients with and without coronary heart disease.,
Magnes Res 1994 Jun;7(2):145-53
A pilot phase 6 month open trial of oral magnesium
supplementation in nine ischaemic heart disease patients with low
erythrocyte magnesium levels led to significant increases of
erythrocyte magnesium in these patients, and to an impressive
decrease of anginal attacks and nitrate consumption, as well as
to a lesser degree of ST segment depression on surface ECG
obtained at exercise testing in seven patients.
Bernardi D, et al, Sudden cardiac death rate in an area
characterized by high incidence of coronary artery disease and
low hardness of drinking water, Angiology 1995
Feb;46(2):145-9
From January 1992 to January 1993 the incidence of sudden
cardiac death among the population of the Media Valle del Serchio
area (Tuscany, Italy), composed of a population of 35,000, was
found to be twice that of the European average...
In the examined geographic area a high prevalence of
coronary artery disease was verified through the records of the
Public Health Service, which documents the main causes of
mortality in Tuscany, and through the hospitalization data and
the services provided for ischemic heart disease at the local
coronary care unit compared with the national average. Moreover,
research was accomplished on physical and chemical properties of
drinking water in the same area, and this revealed a very low
total hardness due to the paucity of calcium and magnesium
salts.
Gartside PS, et al, The important role of modifiable dietary
and behavioral characteristics in the causation and prevention of
coronary heart disease hospitalization and mortality: the
prospective NHANES I follow-up study, J Am Coll Nutr 1995
Feb;14(1):71-9
By logistic regression, the following factors were
independently, significantly, and inversely associated with
coronary heart and vascular disease deaths and hospitalizations:
alcohol intake, dietary riboflavin, dietary iron, serum
magnesium, leisure time exercise, habitual physical activity, and
female gender.
CONCLUSIONS: These associations emphasize the important
role of modifiable dietary and behavioral characteristics in the
causation and prevention of CHD.
Altura BM, et al, Magnesium, hypertensive vascular diseases,
atherogenesis, subcellular compartmentation of Ca2+ and Mg2+ and
vascular contractility., Miner Electrolyte Metab
1993;19(4-5):323-36
Abnormal dietary deficiency in Mg as well as abnormalities
in Mg metabolism appear to play important roles as risk factors
for ischemic heart disease and acute myocardial infarction,
namely in hypertensive vascular disease, diabetic vascular
disease, insulin resistance, atherosclerosis and vasospasm.
Experimental, epidemiological as well as clinical evidence that
supports a role for Mg in these risk factors are
reviewed.
...new findings...suggest that the ionized level of
[Mg2+]o is an important determinant of vascular tone,
contractility and reactivity.
Altura BM, et al, Low extracellular magnesium induces
intracellular free Mg deficits, ischemia, depletion of
high-energy phosphates and cardiac failure in intact working rat
hearts: a 31P-NMR study., Biochim Biophys Acta 1993 Oct
20;1182(3):329-32
Hemodynamic and 31P-NMR spectroscopic studies were
performed on intact, perfused working rat hearts exposed to low
(0.3 mM) extracellular Mg([Mg2+]o). Low [Mg2+]o perfusion
resulted in rapid and significant falls in cardiac output,
coronary flow, stroke volume, developed pressure and the
rate-pressure product. Concomitant with this O2 consumption
decreased and lactate production increased.
...These observations are consistent with the tenet that
low [Mg2+]o can result in marked reduction in oxygen and
substrate delivery to the cardiac myocytes, probably as a result
of coronary vasoconstriction.
Wu F, et al, Ferrylmyoglobin formation induced by acute
magnesium deficiency in perfused rat heart causes cardiac
failure., Biochim Biophys Acta 1994 Jan 11;1225(2):158-64
The oxidation states of intracellular myoglobin and
cytochrome oxidase aa3 were monitored by reflectance
spectrophotometry in isolated perfused rat hearts subjected to an
acutely magnesium deficient environment.
Ferrylmyoglobin formation was found to be formed
considerably before intracellular release of either creatine
phosphokinase or lactic dehydrogenase. These studies may have
wide implications as a new mechanism by which low extracellular
Mg2+ can induce myocardial injury and subsequent cardiac
failure.
Yamori Y, et al, Nutritional factors for stroke and major
cardiovascular diseases: international epidemiological comparison
of dietary prevention, Health Rep 1994;6(1):22-7
CONCLUSION: The Core Study revealed a consistent adverse
effect of high body mass index and excess salt intake on BP
(blood pressure) and a beneficial effect of magnesium on
BP.
Durlach J, et al, Fatty acid profile, fibre content and high
magnesium density of nuts may protect against risk of coronary
heart disease events., Magnes Res 1993 Jun;6(2):191-2
Singh RB, Can dietary magnesium supplementation decrease
coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac death?, Schriftenr Ver
Wasser Boden Lufthyg 1993;88:474-90
Wester PO, Electrolyte balance in heart failure and the role
for magnesium ions., Am J Cardiol 1992 Oct 8;70(10):44C-49C
It is well established that clinically significant changes
in a number of electrolytes occur in patients with congestive
heart failure (CHF). Magnesium ions are an essential requirement
for many enzyme systems, and evidence is rapidly emerging that
magnesium deficiency is a major risk factor for survival of CHF
patients. In animal experiments, magnesium has been shown to be
involved in several steps of the atherosclerotic process and,
although in humans the situation is somewhat more complex,
magnesium ions play an extremely important role in CHF and
various cardiac arrhythmias. A number of drugs commonly used to
treat CHF can significantly affect not only cellular magnesium
ion homeostasis, but potassium as well. These include mercurial,
thiazide, and loop diuretics. It has also been reported that
hypomagnesemia is common in digitalis intoxication. In contrast,
a number of agents have been shown to have either a
magnesium-conserving effect (potassium-sparing diuretics) or not
to affect magnesium ion balance (angiotensin-converting enzyme
inhibitors). The clinical consequences of magnesium deficiency
include the development of various cardiac arrhythmias, all of
which respond well to magnesium treatment. Thus, it is more than
apparent that magnesium ion homeostasis is of major importance in
CHF. Future studies should address the complex role of magnesium
ions in electrolyte imbalance, particularly in relation to heart
failure.
Barabanova TA, et al, The characteristics of the effect of
parathyroid hormone on the mechanical activity of the myocardium
in rats with a deficiency of Ca and Mg in the drinking water,
Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1992 Jul;78(7):71-7
Inotropic and lusitropic effects of the parathyroid
hormone (PTH) upon the rat heart ventricle myocardium were
studied in conditions of calcium and magnesium deficit in
drinking water. The control rats revealed two phases of the
hormone effect: the positive and negative ones, whereas the
experimental rats only revealed the negative inotropic effect.
Both the negative and positive inotropic effects were followed by
an acceleration of the relaxation.
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December 10, 1995
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