Magnesium: It could Save your Life

The amount of magnesium in your body can determine whether you live or die if you have a heart attack. "People who take in low amounts of magnesium are more apt to have heart disease, according to about twenty worldwide population studies," says Dr.Ronald Elin, M.D., a magnesium authority at the National Institutes of Health. Magnesium seems to protect the heart several different ways, in particular by preventing spasms of the coronary arteries and abnormal heart rhythm that are a primary cause of sudden death.

You’re more apt to survive a heart attack if you don’t skimp on magnesium. A recent ten-year study of 2,182 men in Wales found that those eating magnesium-low diets had a 50% higher risk of sudden death from heart attacks than those eating one-third more magnesium. Also, high magnesium eaters were only half as likely to have any type of cardiovascular incident such as non-fatal heart attacks, strokes, angina (chest pain) or heart surgery.

Further, magnesium helps deter the formation of blood clots that help clog arteries and trigger heart attacks. Specifically, studies by Jerry L. Nadler, M.D., at City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California, show that magnesium inhibits the release of thromboxane, a substance that makes blood platelets more sticky and prevent blood vessels from constricting, thus warding off rises in blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks.

Lowers blood pressure

A major Harvard study found that those getting low amounts of magnesium were apt to develop high blood pressure. A recent Swedish study found a dramatic drop in blood pressure from taking magnesium supplements. After nine weeks systolic blood pressure went down from 154 to 146 and diastolic pressure from 100 down to 92 in-patients taking about 360 milligrams of magnesium daily.

A reminder: The systolic pressure, the "upper" or first number in a blood pressure reading, indicates in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) the force of the blood against the artery wall as the heart beats or pumps. The diastolic pressure is the "lower" or second number, which indicates the force of the blood against the vessel walls when the heart is "resting" between beats. Normal blood pressure is 120/80 mm Hg.

Studies find that most diabetics often have low levels of magnesium in their cells and blood. This is worrisome, because lack of magnesium can encourage blood clotting, constriction of blood vessels, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and insulin resistance, according to Dr. Robert Krude, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Southern California. A he favors 300 to 400 milligram supplements daily, to correct diabetic deficiencies. Diabetes, he says, is characterized by magnesium depletion.

Even if you don’t have diabetes or heart disease, skimping on magnesium can make you more vulnerable to insulin resistance, an abnormal functioning of insulin that can eventually damage your arteries and possibly bring on diabetes.

To maintain bone strengths as you age you need magnesium, as well as calcium. Women prone to osteoporosis commonly lack magnesium. And a long-term deficiency of magnesium can trigger osteoporosis, according to Mildred S. Seelig, M.D., adjunct professor of nutrition at the University North Carolina.