Rapid Recovery From Depression Using Magnesium Treatment Part 4

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Epsom Salt Baths

First discovered in the town well of Epsom, England and patented in the

17th century for its healing and curative powers, Epsom salt baths are the

oldest and cheapest ways of relaxing muscles and settling nerves. Simply add two

cups (1 pound, 454 grams, 16 oz., 1 pint, 1/2 liter, 500 ml) to your warm bath

water to make a standard Epsom salt bath, and enjoy! To make a strong Epsom salt

bath, double to quadruple the amount of Epsom salt. To make a VERY strong bath,

double it again. Like our friend Teddy Bear here, Epsom salt baths have produced

pleasure for millions for a very long time - at least three hundred and fifty

years. One of the coolest ladies that I know takes one every 5 days, whether she

needs it or not, because it is part of her routine for staying well. Even today,

Epsom salt is the primary ingredient in nearly all expensive relaxing bath

salts. The crystals are 10 percent pure magnesium, and a rounded 1/2 tablespoon

(7.2 milliliter) yields 1 gram of magnesium.

It is one of the most highly absorbed magnesium compounds known (easily

absorbed through the skin or digestive tract). The effect of these baths has not

been understood from a neuroscience aspect until recently. These baths can raise

blood and tissue levels of magnesium, resulting in the feeling of well being and

relaxation, and perhaps sedation in overdose for all the reasons stated in this

essay for orally ingested magnesium. Few who use Epsom salt baths judiciously

for relaxation go away unhappy. Now, you can buy your own sensory deprivation

tank and fill it with Epsom Salts and really space out!

Although I found no clinical evidence of using Epsom salt baths to treat

clinical anxiety or depression, in theory there is no reason why, with

experimentation, such would not work, and perhaps work very, very well. The

trick to success may be simply finding the correct strength. Should one use a

standard or strong Epsom salt bath? I think a VERY strong one is best, when done

with modest caution. The main side effect of prolonged strong Epsom salt baths,

other than relaxing to the point where one falls asleep, is diarrhea. Taking a

VERY strong Epsom salt water bath without someone ready to watch the person is

unwise, and could lead to overdose, sleep and drowning. Too long spent in very

strong Epsom salt baths will put a person on the commode with diarrhea for at

least a half hour. What is too long? I think about 20 minutes of a VERY strong

bath is long enough, and 60 minutes may result in diarrhea because of the very

strong water-drawing capability of the magnesium ion. How

frequently should strong Epsom salt baths be taken to treat depression? Daily?

Several times daily? Perhaps. Four to six times daily? Let's not over do it, but

maybe for a week or two in the beginning.

Epsom salts are of particular value to people outside of the United

States where there are fewer medicinal or nutritional forms of magnesium. Epsom

salt along with magnesium chloride are found using industrial, agricultural,

medicinal and veterinary sources world-wide. America has stepped around these

old standbys as if they were unimportant, which is a shame. Strong Epsom salt

may draw out water from the skin, causing temporarily dry skin in overdose.

Severe overdose (resulting in flushing of the skin, thirst, low blood pressure,

loss of reflexes and respiratory depression, anesthesia (and eventually heart

failure if untreated) are countered with intravenous calcium gluconate in a

hospital. Seriously, the benefits of judicious use of Epsom Salt baths far

outweigh the risks. Think of the opportunities for pleasure! Here are 13

wonderful ways to use Epsom salt. Epsom salt baths or topical rinses are used

for many purposes in medicine and veterinary medicine. In people, Epsom

salt are routinely used for: soothing relief from arthritic pain; reducing

stiffness, soreness, and tightness of joints; improving discomfort from muscle

aches, pains and tenderness; soothing painful bruises, sprains and strains;

alleviating pain from over exertion during sport activities; improving the

body's sleeping and resting productivity; increasing and improving body energy

levels; improving the rate of natural body healing; soothing away stress; deep

cleaning skin and pores; taking the sting out of insect bites and drawing out

splinters.

If bathing to get your magnesium does not appeal, then dissolving a

rounded 1/2 tablespoon (7.2 milliliter) of Epsom salt (yielding 1 gram of

magnesium), can be dissolved in 1 cup (8 oz., 1/4 liter, 250 mL water). This

prepares a strong stock of magnesium mineral water, which can be added an ounce

or two at a time to other beverages to prepare very inexpensive and highly

nourishing magnesium drinks. Do not try to swallow crystals. Succeed!

Depression is not a psychosis! The Mind

The mind, consciousness, is a funny thing. It is neither space, time,

matter nor energy, but a separate entity all of its own. Mind has been shown to

be able to affect changes in energy and matter, and perhaps time and space. The

mind is the only non-Newtonian part of the body and it is of a quantum mechanic

nature. The realm of the mind is in the vast collection of microtubules of

neuronal synapses, an area solely of a quantum and/or post quantum mechanics

nature; an area quite sensitive to magnesium concentration. Quantum mechanics,

not Newtonian science and calcium channel blocking in the vastly larger

synapses, offers the best chance to understand the interactions of consciousness

with the Universe. Some have speculated that our own individual consciousness is

not found solely in our own brains, but in the nonlocality of the Universe.

There are many Internet sites devoted to " consciousness " and " quantum

mechanics " . One excellent, but long (slow PDF download), 1995 report

by the Center for Theoretical Physics, Texas A & M University and others is

" Theory of Brain Function, Quantum Mechanics and Superstrings " . There are

mind-matter interactions demonstrable in delicate scientific equipment, proven

by eminent academic and government scientists. Cells (human, animal, and plant)

have been caught in the act of communication with their host even if they have

been taken miles away from their host. Succeed! Depression is not a

psychosis! The Creation of Adam - Michelangelo

The Creation of Adam (1508-1512) on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

has long been recognized as one of the world's great art treasures. In 1990

Frank Lynn Meshberger, M.D. described what millions had overlooked for centuries

- an anatomically accurate image of the human brain was portrayed behind God. On

close examination, borders in the painting correlate with sulci in the inner and

outer surface of the brain, the brain stem, the basilar artery, the pituitary

gland and the optic chiasm. God's hand does not touch Adam, yet Adam is already

alive as if the spark of life is being transmitted across a synaptic cleft.*

Below the right arm of God is a sad angel in an area of the brain that is

sometimes activated on PET scans when someone experiences a sad thought. God is

superimposed over the limbic system, the emotional center of the brain and

possibly the anatomical counterpart of the human soul. God's right arm extends

to the prefrontal cortex, the most creative and most

uniquely human region of the brain.

*Frank Lynn Meshberger, M.D., The Interpretation of Michelangelo's Creation of

Adam, Basilar Neuroanatomy, JAMA #14 October 1990. Succeed!

Depression is not a psychosis! Suicide

There is no act more selfish than suicide. It hurts those that we love

in perpetuity. Can you imagine your spouse, mother, father, brother, sister

showing up dead by their own hand? How about your child? Dead of his/her own

hand? Isn't that the most shattering thought? Considering suicide? Consider how

your loved ones will feel, then get a bottle of magnesium - not poison. Think of

how you would feel if one of your loved ones committed suicide. Treat yourself

as you would like your loved ones to treat themselves. Isn't this notion similar

to the Bible's Golden Rule - " Treat others as you would like to be treated. " ?

Would you be surprised if such thoughts were caused by magnesium depletion, and

not your psyche?

I can understand that a deficiency in a nutrient could adversely affect

our ability to think, but can it affect what we think? Why does magnesium

depletion cause people to think of suicide and actually commit suicide? Medical

literature from 1985 clearly shows that calcium/magnesium imbalances with

magnesium being low were found in depressed patients that had attempted suicide.

If we go back in time farther - to articles and books published before the

National Institute of Health started indexing medical articles in PubMed, other

researchers showed more about how magnesium deficiency promotes suicide. Why

this research has been ignored is another travesty. Did you know that the

American Psychological Association does not mention " magnesium " in its web site?

With so little current interest, could we expect anything different?

Considerable research from earlier in this century by various scientists needs

vastly more consideration.

For example, French scientist, M. L. Robinet, in a study of suicide

statistics, discovered that " the comparison of geological maps and statistics

establishes in a striking manner the influence of the magnesium content of the

soil on the number of suicides. It is evident, " M. Robinet points out, " that one

doesn't commit suicide because the soil is poor in magnesium. But, those who

regularly absorb a good amount of magnesium salts have a more stable

equilibrium, they support adversity with more calm and do not renounce

everything to avoid some sorrow. " The use of magnesium permits one to support

adversity with more serenity, " M. Robinet concludes in the Bulletin of the

Academy of Medicine published in France (1934).

Magnesium, says Dr. Lewis B. Barnett, is needed by the pituitary gland.

The pituitary, sometimes called the miracle gland, takes instructions from the

hypothalamus in the brain to which it is connected by a thin stalk, then

transmits them through the body in the form of chemical messengers known as

hormones. These hormones not only exert a direct influence of their own, but

also trigger the production of other vital hormones elsewhere in the body. When

the pituitary is not getting the magnesium it needs, it fails in its function of

exercising a sort of thermostatic control over the adrenals which are thus

allowed to overproduce adrenaline (a major stress hormone). It is known that

situations of danger incite the activity of the adrenal glands. Troubles or

worry also incite the adrenal glands, which then pour hormones through the body

that increase heartbeat, release sugar from the liver, and contribute to a host

of problems not the least of which is hyperexcitability and an

inability to " cope. "

According to some startling data presented at the meeting of the

American Societies for Experimental Biology in May, 1966 the adrenal glands also

contribute to the desire of a suicide to cut himself away from life. Evidence

was presented at this conference that showed how, in the split instant of final

decision to take his life, it is the adrenal glands rather than the psyche that

give that last little push. " Successful suicides had highly active adrenal

glands just before their deaths. That discovery fits neatly into other

observations that depressed patients--those most likely to commit suicide--also

have more adrenal hormone in their blood than do normal persons, " reports Earl

Ubell, science editor of the Herald Tribune (May, 1966). One investigation

revealed that, just before attempting suicide, depressed patients experience a

rapid rise of adrenal breakdown products in the urine. As reported in that

study, a laboratory made measurements on one woman, found an

extraordinarily high hormone level, and called her home to warn her family only

to find she had already killed herself. What can be done to prevent this

adrenaline rush? As far as I can tell, the only way is to eliminate stimulants,

particularly chocolate, from the diet. Death by chocolate seems far fetched, but

it does release theobromine, a relative of caffeine, and phenylalanine which is

a building block for dopamine and adrenaline. Who knows the number of deaths by

chocolate? No one, but for suicidal and insomniac people that have too much

adrenaline and low magnesium, avoiding chocolate seems reasonable, and may be

life saving.

Remember that Durlach showed that aging is a risk factor for magnesium

deficiency. Those that study aging know that suicide is a major cause of death

among old people. Every 90 minutes in the United States a person over age 65

commits suicide. Remember that 90% of suicides occur in people with depression.

Remember that about 20% of seniors are afflicted by depression, roughly in

keeping with the percentage of elderly people known to be magnesium depleted. In

addition to chronic low magnesium, many non-dietary causes of hypomagnesia

result from medical conditions that often accumulate as a result of aging.

Consequently, in older adults (particularly those without close relatives or

loved ones), conditions are right for an older person to forcefully desire

suicide. What can we do? It seems to me that very close attention to magnesium

status of older people showing signs of depression is appropriate. Who will

administer magnesium to our older, isolated seniors already

considering suicide as a cure for their depression? What else can we do to

prevent these horrifying thoughts? Is seeing a physician the answer?

Consider these amazing facts first. Suicide rates are very high in

physicians. Overall, the physician suicide rate is about 3 percent of male

physicians and 6 percent of female physicians. Worse, a study by Dr. Daniel

DeSole of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Albany showed that 26 percent

of all deaths among physicians 25 to 39 years of age were suicides. This

compares to a rate of 9 percent for white males in the same age group.

Physicians are under enormous stress and stress kills. Not knowing the role of

magnesium in mental health is killing our doctors. Can you guess which medical

specialty has the most suicides? Psychiatrists! For more on doctors killing

themselves see this search. To see what doctors are teaching each other about

suicide see this education link. On the other hand, a search for " nutritionist

suicide " comes up with zero meaningful entries! Does this mean nutritionists do

not kill themselves? Hummmm. Maybe there is something to be learned here.

Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis! Meditation vs. Thought-Stopping

Most of us have heard of " meditation " , but how many of us have heard of

its opposite, " thought-stopping " ? Is there an important difference? YES!

Meditation and thought-stopping are both found in religion and psychology. They

relate to the way we treat our own thinking. Our job is to know when to use each

technique. In meditation, we let whatever will enter our minds enter. In

thought-stopping, we control what is in our minds. Which is better? To me, a

depressive, the answer is very clear. I will not surrender my mind to whatever

thought I might have and surrender myself to whatever emotion such thought

produces. I demand control of my own mind. It is mine! I will not allow religion

or my early childhood training to force me to accept whatever thought that

occurs to me. It doesn't need to work that way. Meditation, supposedly, is an

unguided, unintentional, sustained fantasy or mental state of reflection and

contemplation. It is supposed to be a relaxing experience, a " quiet

time, " a self-paced desensitization process. For people without mood disorder,

it is often a productive endeavor; but for people with mood disorders, we must

use another technique. According to Bernhardt, when using emotional

thought-stopping, negative thoughts from the unconscious are cut off the very

second they present, PERIOD! This technique demands that whenever we have a

negative thought, we slam dunk it into oblivion with commands such as STOP!

DON'T GO THERE! ERASE THAT THOUGHT! SHUT UP! Let no negative thought go

unchallenged 24-7 or it will produce a negative emotion. Never let yourself stew

in your own negativity. Isn't that a much better approach for a depressive than

to meditate and let whatever thought that comes to you take over your existence?

Can thought-stopping be useful in forms of anxiety such as OCD? I think so.

Consider changing a repetitive thought or action to something less harmful or

obvious. For example, suppose a person has an obsessive thought about how

badly someone has wronged him/her. That thought is driving him/her crazy! When

such thought occurs, why not try to bog down the mind with a challenging

substitute thought instead? Obviously, there are many thoughts that can bog us

down, but we know they do not have answers (such as where is the beginning and

end of the Universe), and we should not consider those kinds of question as

useful thought-stoppers. Leave them to the professionals. However, we can really

bog down our minds with distracting mental quests such as: list all words that

start with the letters " re " . I will start the list for you. Re-examine, reflect,

restart, reconsider, reconcile, revamp, revisit... Get the idea? Read " Brain

Lock " by Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz for more . By the way, don't the commands I

mentioned above in bold sound a lot like the commands we give our children when

they are misbehaving? Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis! Losing

Your IQ? (Or Your Children's IQ?)

Since you are reading this page, you are concerned about mental function

and magnesium. Does this graphic get your attention? This is what happens to the

intelligence quotient (IQ) of children living in a highly stressed orphanage

compared with kids living at home. Nothing is more harmful to IQ than stress! It

drives down magnesium so intensely that these children loose their IQ. Yet, we

keep piling stress on our children and ask them to like it. Are we crazy? Are we

stupid? Insane? The Gods Must be Crazy! Notice that the kids that lived at home

have a normal distribution of IQ, a bell-shaped curve if you will. The kids

living under stress have an extremely distorted IQ range, with only a very few

having normal and better IQ. This data is from Table 3 of " Magnesium and some

psychological features in two groups of pupils " , by Victoria Papadopol, Eugenia

Tuchendria and Iliana Palamaru of the Institute of Public Health, Iaºi, Romania.

In my opinion, these authors deserve a Nobel

Prize in Medicine for this truly original research. There are no other papers

on magnesium and intelligence on PubMed. Unfortunately, the last sentence of the

article's abstract reads,

" A direct correlation between magnesium level and neuroticism was demonstrated. "

This sentence was grossly mistranslated from the words in their Conclusions,

which read : Our study pointed out a positive connection between magnesium

deficit and neuroticism " .

Never before has there been such a clear and unambiguous relationship

between intracellular magnesium levels and attention, memory and intelligence

shown. Of great interest is the absence of similar relationships between serum

magnesium and these parameters. The consequence of not looking in the right

place for magnesium (intracellular and not serum) has resulted in grave mental

and emotional damage to our children. For the statistician the p values are

(p=0.000), which means extreme statistical significant and meaningfulness. Pay

attention to them concerning the role of low magnesium in causing

neuropsychological disorders in children including: agitation, anxiety,

depression, irritability, weakness, fatigue, confusion, asthenia (loss of

strength), sleepnessless, headache, convulsive, nervous attacks, delirium,

hallucinations and hyperexcitablity. In my opinion, ignoring low magnesium is

criminal and is going to destroy America and the Western world if emergency

action is not

taken to change our children's diets to get them more magnesium to withstand

the stress of American and Western life. Our children are not bad, but their

diets are!

Magnesium deficiency due to stress and/or diet is the number one reason

for low intelligence quotient in American school children and adults. Children

that you know could be doing better in school but don't, are most likely

magnesium deficient. Loss of previous well-being from minor magnesium deficits

also cause irritability, poor manners, strange behavior, belligerence, moodiness

and violence. Such behavior changes are further confirmation of low magnesium,

in both children and adults, and those problems will only worsen without

magnesium intervention. Have a doctor test their magnesium status and the test

will nearly always come back " within the normal range " . Why? Magnesium is an

intracellular cation. That means that nearly all is inside cells, and not in the

serum where it can be easily tested. The Exatest intracellular magnesium ion

test produces sufficient accuracy, but only a magnesium dietary supplement

program of 400 to 800 mg lasting a minimum of 6 months will

confirm low magnesium. If IQ, behavior and test scores improve, a harmful

magnesium deficit was corrected. However, one must always avoid toxic and

ineffective forms of magnesium listed here. A 10 to 50 point increase in IQ if

deficient is usual from supplementing magnesium. Think of the countless

stressful jobs that have been lost to low performance when the individual seemed

to offer great potential. More tragic is the lack of a future - reliant upon a

normal or higher IQ - that school children face. They are always under stress in

school and rarely get sufficient magnesium in their diets. Once they become old

enough to make up their own minds, they usually stop eating magnesium rich

foods. Instead, they gorge on high calorie junk food and sodas pushed upon them

by corporate America. The consequences of corporate America's attention to our

children's pocketbooks? Their magnesium status deteriorates, they gain weight,

become more stressed, ostracized, depressed, and violent. Our

future is our children and their ability to operate this technology-driven

country. Our future as an economic power and viable nation is at stake. Must

this nation continue to import brain-power from other countries simply because

we don't feed our children correctly? Osama Bin Laden could not have planned a

better way to destroy America than to keep our kids and public magnesium

deprived. This topic is too depressing for me to consider further. If you want

the full skinny, there are nearly 500 pages on the Internet devoted to " IQ,

intelligence and magnesium " . Forget searching PubMed for useful information on

this topic. I only found one item, that being the above Romainian article. The

docs simply don't know, even though the National Institute of Health lists

" reduced ability to learn " as a facet of magnesium deficiency. YES STUPID, JUST

KEEP ON STRESSING YOUR KIDS! Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!

Traumatic Brain Injury and Magnesium

Perhaps no injury is worse emotionally than traumatic brain injury to a

young person full of life, hope for the future and energy. Traumatic brain

injury can put a person into a vegetative state if sufficiently severe (we all

remember the Florida lady Terri Schiavo's horrible incident of a 13-year

vegetative state from traumatic brain injury), or it can knock the sense out of

them - permanently. Trauma is a blunt mechanism that massively elevates the

extracellular glutamate levels. Normal extracellular glutamate concentration is

about 0.6 micromol/L. Substantial neuronal excitotoxic injury occurs with

glutamate concentrations of 2 to 5 micromol/L. Traumatic injury to neurons can

produce disastrous results with the exposure of the normal intracellular

glutamate concentrations of about 10 µmol/L to the extracellular space.

Mechanical injury to a single neuron, therefore, puts all of the neighboring

neurons at risk. Significant collateral injury occurs to surrounding neurons

from this type of glutamate release. One recent therapeutic strategy is to

immediately treat persons with injuries to the head or spinal column with

glutamate receptor blockers to minimize the spread of neuronal death beyond the

immediate physically disrupted neurons. Attempts have also been made to affect

the various sites of the coupled glutamate receptor itself. Some of these drugs

include felbamate, ifenprodil, magnesium, memantine, and nitroglycerin. These

" downstream " drugs attempt to influence such intracellular events as free

radical formation, nitric oxide formation, proteolysis, endonuclease activity,

and ICE-like protease formation (an important component in the process leading

to programmed cell death, or apoptosis).

I remember a really wonderful story of a very pretty, smart and nice

young lady studying architecture at a Texas university. One day, in a hurry, she

didn't see the spilled soft drink at the top of one of the school's huge granite

stair steps. As her fortune would have it, she slipped and fell headfirst down

the full length of the stairs striking her head on each step as she fell. By the

time her 40-pound backpack had separated from her and she was consequently able

to get stopped, she felt pretty woozy and was in significant pain. She made her

way to an emergency hospital room where was treated and observed. An MRI showed

no injury and she was discharged. Unfortunately, traumatic brain injury had

occurred and her ability to remember her lessons was severely impaired. Her

effective IQ dropped from 140 to about 80, and after a semester of D grades, she

dropped out of the University with medical expunction of her bad grades. The

University was clearly at fault legally. But now

what? What is a young girl to do with only limited IQ? She eventually became

depressed, and later found this page. She self-treated with magnesium glycinate,

with rapid recovery from her depression. Amazingly, she noticed that her short

term memory was returning and that she could remember as well as she could

before her traumatic head injury. She reapplied to the University, was

re-accepted and is now making straight A grades, but she must continue with her

magnesium self-treatment or her problems seem to reoccur.

How can magnesium be responsible for repair of traumatic brain injury?

Was magnesium even responsible? Or was it the glycinate? That question remains

difficult to answer to this day, but new work with rats following diffuse

traumatic brain injury by Robert Vink, Christine A. O'Connor, Alan J. Nimmo and

Deanne L. Heath working at the University of Adelaide in South Australia appears

to be shedding new light on her " miraculous " recovery from traumatic brain

injury. In brief, Vink et. al. concluded that " posttraumatic magnesium

administration attenuates long-term motor and cognitive deficits after traumatic

brain injury, and that this improvement may include some reduction of

post-traumatic stress and anxiety. " Vink goes on in an email to me saying, " it

is now well accepted that magnesium does decline in all forms of brain injury

(traumatic, stroke, drugs, radiation, etc) and that treatment with magnesium is

beneficial to outcome in experimental animals. " In their article (see

figure to right) they show that learning ability in rats that received

magnesium sulfate (250 micromolar/kg) dosage treated 30 minutes after injury

allowed rats to learn at the same rate as uninjured rats, while untreated

injured rats failed to learn. They propose that this amazing response is

attributed to the role of magnesium in inhibiting secondary injury factors

including amongst others glutamate release, the activity of NMDA channel,

calcium channel, lipid peroxidation, free radical production, edema formation

and opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores. I strongly suspect

that administration of magnesium to patients having recent traumatic brain

injury will become common-place. See this important article in its entirity

here. Even though these amazing findings seem to have application to this young

girl's case, there exists the possibility that traumatic brain injury,

regardless of the cause, be it blunt force trauma, stroke, legal and illegal

drugs,

malnutrition, and aging induces a persistent low magnesium status that is

corrected only by supplementation of magnesium.

Dr. Vink is a world-leader in magnesium and inflammation research. He

hosted the 10th International Magnesium Symposium September 7 - 11, 2003 in

Cairns, Australia. This meeting was one of a series of International Magnesium

Symposia organized every three years by the International Society for

Development of Magnesium Research (SDRM). This group consists of the

world-leaders in magnesium research. The abstracts of this symposium are

available on line here. Selected and generalized topics of interest to us in

these abstracts include:

clinical relevance of magnesium from gestation to old age

estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) risks in magnesium deficiency

effects of certain drugs on magnesium balance

magnesium and blood-brain barrier

magnesium-Vitamin B6 intake reduces central nervous hyperexcitability in

children

magnesium protection in traumatic brain injury

magnesium and the inflammatory response

magnesium deficiency on primary tumour growth

attenuation of post-traumatic depression/anxiety following diffuse traumatic

brain injury

effects of oral magnesium therapy in patients with coronary artery disease

Optimal dosage of magnesium sulfate for torsades de pointes

effects of Mg2+ on cardiac excitation-contraction coupling

intracellular magnesium assay correlations to serum and other measures

intracellular magnesium in furosemide-treated patients with congestive heart

failure

outcome of intravenous magnesium therapy in acute mayocardial infarct

patients

subcutaneous (non-oral) magnesium product for space missions

free Mg, plasma membrane and circulating lipids in hypertension

comparision of magnesium and statin pharmaceuticals

magnesium in essential hypertension

Osteoblastic cell growth as a function of Ca2+/Mg2+ ratio

bone mineral density and serum magnesium

magnesium deficiency and interaction with aminoglycoside and quinolone

antibiotics

magnesium in sports

a functional biological marker is needed for diagnosing magnesium deficiency

the relation of birth weight to intracellular magnesium

balance of Mg positively correlates with that of Ca

magnesium and cancer in clinical practice (update).

intracellular magnesium is independent from extracellular availability during

proliferation

magnesium, insulin resistance and body composition in healthly posmenopausal

women

clinical efficacy of magnesium supplementation in patients with type 2

diabetes

post-cholecystectomy syndrome and magnesium deficiency

effect of magnesium diets in ischemic stroke

increases in brain intracellular free magnesium concentration after diffuse

traumatic brain injury

amiloride increases neuronal damage after traumatic brain injury

propofol attenuates the neuroprotective effects of magnesium in experimental

traumatic brain injury

effects of reduced magnesium availability and mild oxidative stress on aging

food intake and magnesium intake affect true absorption and endogenous fecal

excretion of magnesium

serum magnesium levels and dependency/disability in hospitalised elderly

patients

absorption and effect of the magnesium content of a mineral water

about the misdiagnostics of magnesium deficiency

magnesium in asthma attack

experimentally induced prolonged magnesium deficiency causes osteoporosis

modifications of magnesium concentrations in patients with suppurations of

the oro-maxilar area

Lyme disease and magnesium deficiency

magnesium in animal nutrition

Mg-content in different plants and the importance of Mg in N2-fixation

 

Having participated in national and international symposia on zinc, I

know the enormous value of these kind of symposia, and would love to have

attended. The next SDRM symposia on magnesium will be: 8th European Magnesium

Congress, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, May 25-28, 2004; Gordon Conference, Ventura,

USA, January, 2005; 11th International Magnesium Symposium, Osaka, Japan,

October 22-26, 2006. Other Types of Depression

Seasonal Affective Disorder. What is it? As winter approaches and the

daylight lessens, some people experience a form of depression called Seasonal

Affective Disorder (SAD) - an extreme case of the " winter blues " that disappears

during the spring and summer months. About 25% of people get SAD during winter,

really spoiling their Holiday season. Symptoms may include:

Lack of energy

Increased desire to sleep

Depression

Increased appetite leading to weight gain

Anxiety

Difficulty concentrating

Irritability

Withdrawal; difficulty with relationships; loss of sexual desire

For women, increase in PMS-related symptoms

 

Interestingly, each of these individual symptoms, including PMS-related

symptoms, result from magnesium deficiency. Although the cause of SAD is not

clinically proven, various treatments including vitamins, amino acids, magnesium

and light therapy have helped many people, while melatonin usually worsens SAD.

Light therapy is rewarding to many, perhaps because it stimulates the production

of Vitamin D-3, the type of vitamin D produced by action of sunlight on skin.

Supplementation of 400 to 800 units of vitamin D-3 resulted in modest

improvement of SAD within 5 days in a clinical trial. If Vitamin D-3 deficits

from lack of sunlight were the primary cause of SAD, it seems that even more

than 25% of people would be affected by it. Vitamin D-3 is well known to be

required for proper utilization of magnesium, and supplementation of magnesium

should be a more direct route to recovery from SAD and all of its symptoms than

taking Vitamin D-3. Magnesium dietary deficits are well known

to affect at least 25% of people and in some countries and regions as many as

70%. Supplementation of both Vitamin D-3 and magnesium (400 mg magnesium as

magnesium aurate taken in the morning and at night) may result in even faster

recovery from SAD.

Post Partum Depression (PPD). The birth of a new baby should be one of

the very happiest times for a woman and her family. The sound of a happy baby

should bring tears of joy to a mother's eyes, and a bond that can never be

broken. However, in about 10 percent of births things go wrong, and shortly

after the mother gives birth, the blues [Post Partum Depression (PPD)]set in.

Sometimes these blues are mild and short term and sometimes they become so

severe that they become a psychosis. Postpartum depression (PPD) can be much

more severe than clinical depression in other women. Many psychiatric symptoms

found in people that later develop clinical depression are also found in women

destined to develop PPD. Magnesium depletion of the mother by the fetus is very

likely the main cause of PPD. Magnesium is extremely important for the synthesis

of steroids such as the androgenic and estrogenic hormones as well as

cortisone-like hormones. It is well known that the fetus and placenta

absorb enormous amounts of nutrients (especially magnesium) from the mother,

which is a major stressor for the mother. Magnesium and hormones are not

plentiful in the delivered placenta, but are in the newborn. Stress depletes

magnesium and can result in depression, whether the person is a postpartum woman

or not, or an infant. In the infant, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) remains

a leading cause of death during the first year, and is now suspected as being a

severe magnesium deficiency. Similarly, sudden death in adults is believed to be

caused by severe magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is effective in rapidly curing

depression and preventing sudden death heart attacks in adults. Each of the

stressors shown above (physical, trauma, psychological, environmental and

metabolic) clearly apply to pregnancy and childbirth. It is very difficult to

see how they would not have an adverse effect on maternal magnesium reserves

unless the mother has allowed herself to eat those fattening

foods rich in magnesium or has supplemented her diet with magnesium. If

postpartum depression is nothing but clinical depression due to magnesium

deficits induced by stress (including financial), poor diet, or both, magnesium

supplements in the dosage of 200 mg magnesium per meal should easily prevent and

cure this horrible condition without side effects. In hospitals, magnesium

sulfate IV is given to women to prevent seizures of eclampsia. Magnesium sulfate

exposure to fetuses reduced by 90 percent the incidence of cerebral palsy and

mental retardation in very low birth weight babies during their first five years

of life. It is difficult for me to understand how these expensive hospital

treatments are more justified than inexpensive dietary magnesium supplementation

during pregnancy to prevent these complications and post partum depression

(PPD). There are numerous Post Partum Depression (PPD) support pages on the

Internet, and this is my favorite. At least four women having had

extreme problems with PPD in several previous pregnancies used magnesium in

response to this essay to essentially prevent post partum depression (PPD). In

PPD, endocrine problems also usually need to be addressed, but they are

secondary to magnesium. Reported first in 2001, low magnesium in infants causes

weak muscles which promotes Sudden Infant Death (SIDS), which is believed to be

associated with maternal PPD.

Sports Over Training occurs when stressful and repetitive training

depletes the individual's magnesium stores. See original medical research here.

Sports and physical fitness training requires stress, not mental stress, but

adaptive body stress. Athletes must put their bodies under correct amounts of

stress to increase physical capabilities. Where the stress loads are appropriate

then the athletes's performance will improve, but if the stress loads are

excessive then a state of " over-training " will occur as magnesium stores are

depleted. Symptoms indicating over exertion can be classified in the following

way:

Movement co-ordination symptoms: Increased incidence of disturbances in

movement (the re-appearance of faults that seemed to have been overcome, cramp,

inhibitions, insecurity). Disturbances in rhythm and flow of movement. Lack of

ability to concentrate. Reduced power of differentiation and correction.

Condition symptoms: Diminished powers of endurance, strength, speed. Increase

in recovery time, loss of 'sparkle' Competitive Qualities. Reduced readiness for

action, fear of competition, giving-up in face of difficult situations,

especially at the finish. Confusion in competition, departure from usual

tactics. Susceptibility to demoralizing influences before and during

competition. Increasing tendency to abandon the struggle (quit sports).

Psychological symptoms: Increased irritability, obstinacy, tendency to

hysteria, grumbling, defiance, increased quarrelsomeness, avoidance of contact

with coach and colleagues, over-sensitivity to criticism, or increasing

indolence, poor incentive, dullness, hallucination, anxiety, depression,

melancholy, insecurity, burn-out.

 

These symptoms also occur in military recruit training and during the

stress of military conflicts. Lack of sufficient magnesium in the diets of our

athletes and soldiers limits our nation's ability to compete. Consider this

fact. During the invasion of Afghanistan to route al Qaeda, we sent many tons of

raw wheat, rich in magnesium, to prevent starvation in natives, yet we sent our

troops to Afghanistan with Meals-Ready-To-Eat, which is only average (450 mg

magnesium/day) in magnesium. Mamas send your soldiers some magnesium!

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a disorder that occurs in and

after military or police conflict, terrorism, such as the attack on the World

Trade Center and Pentagon, major accidents, school yard bullying and other

stressful events, meet all of the symptomatic and stressor criteria for being a

magnesium deficiency disorder due to excess stress and should also respond to

magnesium taurate treatment.

Spasmophilia, in France and to a lesser extent in Germany and Hungary,

has a similar meaning to manic depression in the United States. The main

symptoms are anxiety neurosis, panic attacks, permanent muscle spasms, asthma

and other respiratory problems and prickly sensations in hands and arms and

sometimes face. Spasmophilia is also a condition of very low energy, mental

fogginess, vague depression and unexplained but extremely persistent muscle

spasms. The French studies on spasmophilia however indicate that it is not only

magnesium but calcium that is deficient as well as potassium, phosphorus and

vitamin D. If you read French (or will click on Google.com translation), you

will find that considerable research has been done on " SPASMOPHILIE " which is

well worth our time to examine closely due to the closeness of these French and

U.S. afflictions and their treatment with magnesium. Since low magnesium will

cause low calcium, potassium and phosphorus in the serum, perhaps all

these people need is more magnesium and some sunlight. Succeed!

Depression is not a psychosis! Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)

In 1921, Dr. Paul G. Weston, MD first showed that magnesium sulfate

administered intravenously relaxed people having excited emotional states, the

very definition of ADHD. All of the patients were noisy, talkative, very

restless and resistant. Many were depressed, some were manic, and some had other

mental disorders. Out of 250 doses, 220 of these treatments resulted in relaxing

the patients and they slept for 4 to 6 hours upon IV administration of magnesium

sulfate. Dr. Weston's findings, published in Volume 1 of the American Journal of

Psychiatry was completely ignored by the American Psychiatric Association,

setting the stage for magnesium deficiency as cause of Attention Deficit

Hyperactive Disorder in children and adults to remain ignored for the following

80 years. However, there were hints along the way that magnesium was helpful in

treating hyperactivity. For example biochemist, Dr. Adell Davis suggested in her

1970 book Let's East right to Keep Fit, that magnesium

was beneficial in treating hyperactivity in children and adults. In 1987,

Nelson et al. reported neonatal hyperexcitability in full term babies was

related to significantly lower than normal serum magnesium.

In 1993 Nizankowska-Blaz found low level of magnesium in blood serum in

24 out of 247 children in Poland. Twenty-one of the 24 children had neurotic

reactions or concentration disturbances. In 1994 Kozielec et al. found

significant magnesium, zinc, copper, iron and calcium deficits in plasma,

erythrocytes, urine and hair in 50 Polish children aged from 4 to 13 years with

hyperactivity. The average concentration of all trace elements was lower

compared with the healthy children control group and they found that it was

absolutely necessary to supplement trace elements in children with hyperactivity

for them to regain emotional control. In a follow up study Kozielec et al.

introduced their 1997 article with the comment: " A positive influence of

magnesium in the prevention and treatment of hyperactivity in children is more

and more frequently raised in the medical literature " . They continued in their

original research article with the astonishing finding that in 116 children (94

boys and 20 girls), aged 9-12 years, with recognized ADHD, magnesium deficiency

was found in 95 per cent of those examined. Following up their observations,

Kozielec et al. treated ADHD children with and without magnesium with

spectacular results. Their research comprised 50 hyperactive children, aged 7-12

years, who fulfilled DSM IV criteria for ADHD syndrome, with recognized

deficiency of magnesium in the blood and in hair. In the period of 6 months

those examined regularly took magnesium preparations in a dosage of about 200

mg/day. Thirty of those examined with ADHD showed coexisting disorders specific

to developmental age, and 20 of them showed disruptive behavior. The control

group consisted of 25 children with ADHD and magnesium deficiency, who were

treated in the standard way (without magnesium supplements). Fifteen members of

this group showed coexisting disorders specific for developmental age, and 10

members showed disruptive behavior. Hyperactivity was assessed with the

aid of psychometric scales: the Conners Rating Scale for Parents and Teachers,

Wender's Scale of Behavior and the Quotient of Development to Freedom from

Distractibility. In the group of children given 6 months of magnesium

supplementation, independently of other mental disorders coexisting with

hyperactivity, an increase in magnesium contents in hair and a significant

decrease of hyperactivity of those examined was achieved, compared to their

clinical state before supplementation and compared to the control group which

had not been treated with magnesium.

Later in 1998, one of the Polish scientists, Dr. Starobrat-Hermelin

followed up with analysis of more minerals in ADHD. He studied the deficiencies

of magnesium, copper, zinc, calcium and iron in blood that occurred among 116

ADHD hyperactive children (DSM IV criteria) and compared them with blood from

healthy children. Although some disruptive children had slightly higher zinc

serum concentrations, magnesium concentrations were lower in children with ADHD

than in healthy children. Supplementing with magnesium alone, all minerals

tested increased compared to ADHD children not given magnesium supplements.

Accompanying the rise in mineral serum concentration there was a decrease of

hyperactivity in the group of children treated with magnesium. Among the

children given standard treatment (without magnesium) hyperactivity intensified.

Consequently, this Polish study provides strong clinical evidence that there is

a need for magnesium supplementation in ADHD children

irrespectively of other mental disorders.

Do you think Western children with ADHD will receive proper magnesium

supplementation to decrease their hyperactivity? If you are a skeptic, you are

probably right. Instead, they will be given " upper " drugs; one such drug is the

amphetamine dextroamphetamine which has the unique property of elevating

magnesium in serum and significantly reducing the calcium to magnesium ratio. On

the other hand, psychiatric drugs like Psychoverlan and Pemoline, and are being

used to treat ADHA which contain magnesium. Mothers! watch out for the

pharmaceutical drug peddlers!

Insomnia is a major problem in the treatment of ADHD with stimulants. I

wonder if too much sugar and not enough magnesium causes insomnia of ADHD?

wouldn't hurt to try. Let me know! Succeed! Depression is not a

psychosis! Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder (AAADD)

Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder (AAADD) is a newly described

mental condition currently being experimentally treated using very aggressive

and expensive psychiatric medications by extremely accomplished psychiatrists.

The symptoms are complex and usually totally bewildering. AAADD affects mostly

men in Western society over 40 years of age, and causes great economic hardship

and injury if not carefully treated. AAADD usually affects men for the rest of

their lives if not successfully and promptly treated. AAADD is usually first

identified by spouses of men so afflicted. Rather than to try to describe the

extremely subjective signs and symptoms of this most difficult and challenging

mental illness, I will recount a story in a letter to me from a newly diagnosed

AAADD victim.

Dear George,

They have finally found a diagnosis for my condition. I have recently

been diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder...

This is how it goes on a typical Saturday morning:

I decide to wash the car; I start toward the garage and notice the mail

on the table. OK, I'm going to wash the car, but first I'm going to go through

the mail. I lay the car keys down on the desk, discard the junk mail and I

notice the trash can is full.

OK, I'll just put the bills on my desk and take the trash can out, but

since I'm going to be near the mailbox anyway, I'll pay these few bills first.

Now, where is my checkbook?

Oops, there's only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk. Oh,

there's the coke I was drinking. I'm going to look for those checks, but first I

need to put my coke further away from the computer, or maybe I'll pop it into

the fridge to keep it cold for a while.

I head towards the kitchen and my potted flowers catch my eye, they

need some water. I set the coke on the counter and, uh oh! There are my glasses.

I was looking for them all morning! I'd better put them away first.

I fill a container with water and head for the flower pots - -

Aaaaaagh! Someone left the TV remote in the kitchen. We will never think to look

in the kitchen tonight when we want to watch television so I'd better put it

back in the family room where it belongs.

I splash some water into the flower pots, but most of it goes onto the

floor. Better clean this up. I head back down the hall to the bathroom, the

remote still in my hand. I set the remote on the toilet seat so I can pull an

old bath towel down from the shelf. As I walk back down the hall I'm trying to

figure out what it was I was going to do.

NOON: The car isn't washed, the bills are unpaid, the coke is sitting

on the kitchen counter, the flowers are half watered, there is a water stain on

the floor, the checkbook still only has one check in it and I can't seem to find

my car keys or the TV remote.

There is only one obvious solution: I need to settle down and check my

email. WOW, look at those cool photos my sister sent, and those jokes from my

nephew. Oh, what the heck, I'll just make me a TO-DO list and tend to the other

chores later, maybe tomorrow. Now where did I put my pen? "

Your friend, Tom Toya,

 

Either a very specialized and expensive psychiatric treatment is

required, or victims can just take magnesium taurate. Actually, You have just

been spoofed! And I hope you find this anecdote humorous. There is no

psychiatric illness called AAADD, but don't the symptoms seem all too real? Who

knows, maybe it is a real disorder treatable by magnesium taurate.

Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis! Falling In Love

" Falling in love " has a special sound to it. It is the topic of

countless songs, movies, and TV shows. Countless diaries record love affairs and

the despair that goes with unrequited love and lost, dying love affairs. Take

another look at the words " falling in love " . It seems that " falling " is the

operative word. Why don't we say " rising " in love with a sweet heart? Jesus

wanted us to " rise in love " of the Father. Why would we want to " fall " into

anything? Would you want to fall into a pit (of despair)? Wouldn't love be

better if love (not animal passion) caused us to " rise " in love? Ideally, love

does raise our spirits, and a few times in a person's life, " falling in love "

leads to marriage, and our well-loved, and usually spoiled progeny. After all,

love is what makes the world go around.

The " dark side " of love is not as simple to explore, and we must

reconsider " falling in love " as a " hyperexcitatory " or " hyperemotional " state

which is treatable with magnesium taurate. When love-gone-wrong turns to

depression (as it does for so many love-sick teenagers and desperate-for-love

folks of any age), think magnesium - not Prozac. When that special loved one

makes you so anxious you could scream, think magnesium - not Valium. When that

special loved one irritates you to the point you want to kill the bastard, think

magnesium - not a gun.

Unrequited love is a saddening affair which no one will doubt. There is

little that one can do to fight a shadow, and one can't run from a shadow

either. You are stuck and in deep stress and turmoil and in need of magnesium

and time. We often turn to music in our darkest love-less moments. In my

experience with music, there is one album (F L O A T I N G I N T O T H E N I

G HT ) that really goes all the way in exploring the dark underside of

love-gone-wrong. The lyrics are by D a v i d L y n c h, and the music is by A n

g e l o B a d a l m e n t i. The compositions are sung with great reverence,

style and beauty by J u l e e C r u i s e. Some of you will recognize songs in

this album as being from D a v i d L y n c h's ethereal TV program of the early

90's " T w i n P e a k s " . If you are love-struck, and just want to listen to

someone who seems to feels as bad as you, I strongly suggest curling up with a

magnesium bottle and listening to her songs of love-gone-wrong. I

might add that in the early 90's, I was so struck by her music that I spent

hours each day listening to this single album. I nearly drove my wife crazy.

Please buy her album, it is a world-class treasure worthy of any lover's music

collection. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis! Corporate Murder

and Our Food

In her year 2000 book, " CRAZY MAKERS - How the Food Industry is

Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children " , published by Jeremy P.

Tarcher/Putman, New York, NY; nutritionist Carol Simontacchi, PhD, writes, " It

(magnesium) is used to regulate receptor sites for neurotransmitters, and is

active in the hippocampus, the emotional center of the body. " This book explores

our dietary habits and exposes American food manufacturers as compromising our

foods and leading us into malnutrition and its corollary mental and physical

disorders. Most importantly, it explains what we can do about it. In the

tradition of Dr. Rachel Carson's landmark work Silent Spring, she takes a hard,

shattering look at how the pseudo foods being promoted today, from infant

formulas to supposedly health-conscious packaged meals can, in fact, physically

erode our brains.

The " Grain Drain " , displayed without comment (Reader's Digest, March

2003, page 180) says much. This data adopted from the Harvard Heart Letter is a

strong indictment of grain refiners. The nutrients taken out of wheat are the

same nutrients that when deficient cause depression and many health problems in

the West. Who is to blame for much of human health misery? I vote for the grain

refiners. But wait! They listen to the consumer, and the consumer (totally

mindless when it comes to nutrition and health) wants a fine white bread that

has the consistency of velvet. What is the difference between bread and cake?

Sugar. We know we shouldn't eat cake, but there is little benefit left in bread

too. We have only ourselves to blame, because we are listening to our tastebuds

rather than common sense. Why hasn't public policy addressed this horrible

circumstance? Lobbyists?

Considering the raw wheat used to make our bread, magnesium content is

high and is about 4 times higher than calcium; yet, commercial breads, cakes and

cookies that we serve our families are nearly devoid of these precious minerals

- to preserve freshness and shelf life! Scientists around 1930 studying

comparative cancer rates in Egypt and the West noted that Egyptian breads

contained natural amounts of magnesium while Western processed bread contained

very little. They noted that the cancer rate in Egypt was ten percent that of

the West at that time. Is there something to be learned here? If we don't start

paying attention to what we eat, will we perish? I wish they would worry more

about " preserving " our lives rather than " preserving " shelf life. Do you know of

any magnesium fortified foods? I don't. Succeed! Depression is not a

psychosis! Constipation Means To Us...

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH CONSENSUS DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE STATEMENT

- OPTIMAL CALCIUM INTAKE: Normally, constipation is associated with too much

water being removed by the colon. However, we (people toxic on calcium) must

also consider the role of calcium overdose in constipation. The above official

United States government report describes optimal calcium intake for various age

and status groups of people mentioning the word " magnesium " once, stating that

" magnesium did not affect calcium absorption or excretion significantly " . Of

particular note, " ...Gastrointestinal side effects of calcium supplements have

been observed, usually at relatively high dosages. A variable effect on the

incidence of constipation has been reported in controlled studies of calcium

supplements. The calcium ion stimulates gastrin secretion and gastric acid

secretion, which can produce a 'rebound hyperacidity' when calcium carbonate is

used as an antacid. These side effects should not be major

problems with a modest increase in calcium intake, however practices that might

encourage total calcium intake to approach or exceed 2,000 mg/day seem more

likely to produce adverse effects and should be monitored closely. "

Two thousand milligrams of calcium per day is the upper safe limit? Wow!

What a disaster! If calcium were a newly discovered drug (perhaps dietary

supplements of calcium should be so considered), it would be described as having

an extremely low threshold for toxicity and would likely be a prescription drug!

Apparently because of the emphasis on calcium by the NIH, the current rage among

other government food scientists, food product manufacturers, dietary supplement

manufacturers and dairy industry is to routinely push our total intake of

calcium over the 2,000 mg/day limit. I believe that abuse of this " consensus

report " is rapidly deteriorating mental and cardiologic health, and is greatly

increasing violence in Western society.

Where is the NIH consensus report on magnesium? It doesn't exist, yet

magnesium is key to mental health as discussed in this essay. With the NIH

overemphasis on calcium, many depressed people have exceeded the 2,000-mg/day

limit and are becoming very constipated. With little magnesium (relative to

calcium in the intestinal tract) and resultant inability to regulate water and

maintain a soft stool, constipation results. The amount of calcium required to

produce constipation is related to the dietary intake of magnesium required to

loosen the stool. If an imbalance between calcium and magnesium exists, with

calcium being high and magnesium being low, then constipation occurs at much

lower intake of calcium than the 2,000-mg/day limit. What to do? Taking more

magnesium dietary supplements to balance the intestinal calcium/magnesium ion

ratio greatly reduces constipation. Although too much magnesium can even lead to

diarrhea, just as too much calcium can lead to constipation,

magnesium taurate is readily absorbed into the blood and is not as likely to

produce diarrhea as are other forms of magnesium. Magnesium oxide, hydroxide and

carbonate tend to be poorly absorbed and consequently end up in the large

intestines and colon attracting large amounts of water producing diarrhea.

Obviously, foods high in magnesium and foods high in water-soluble fiber are

preferred to refined foods and cheese to prevent constipation.

As far as we are concerned in the treatment of depression (and other

magnesium deficiency disorders especially cardiologic problems) using magnesium

taurate, constipation certainly can mean that we are not getting enough

magnesium relative to calcium in our diets. In many cases of depression and

related disorders, our diets are much too high in calcium and must be greatly

lowered deleting most foods high in calcium from our diets in order to benefit

from magnesium in our treatment. Apparently, We have become toxic with calcium.

Don't believe me? Check your calcium intake from this handy calcium

intake calculator. If you have a calcium intake near or over 1,000 mg/day, and

have little magnesium intake, you may very well have a dietary imbalance of

calcium and magnesium complete with all the attendant sequela. Be honest!

Here is an interesting tid-bit. We know magnesium oxide is a health food

supplement (very poorly absorbed) and that magnesium hydroxide is a strong

laxative (extremely poorly absorbed), but what about calcium oxide and calcium

hydroxide? Have you ever seen calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide in a health

food or grocery store? No! You never have! Why do I know that? Because calcium

oxide and calcium hydroxide are extremely caustic and are commonly used to

dissolve flesh from bones in animal rendering plants and to disinfect outhouse

waste. You think calcium is always healthy and good for you? These two compounds

of calcium will kill you very quickly and painfully as they dissolve your mouth,

throat, esophagus and stomach. Succeed! Depression is not a

psychosis! Violence and Mayhem

Violence is not simply a magnesium deficiency problem for people; but

is a complex societal problem involving as principal factors magnesium and

calcium / magnesium dietary intake ratios, medical conditions resulting in or

from loss of magnesium, drugs (both legal and illegal), stress, and our moral,

cultural and religious training and beliefs. That magnesium deficiency as a

cause of violence has not been directly recognized by medicine or science can

easily be ascertained by doing a PubMed search for the words " magnesium " and

" violence " . ZERO meaningful entries result.

However, work at the Institute of Public Health, Iaºi, Romania, is

making inroads through a recently published study of low intracellular magnesium

and psychological features (attention, memory, intelligence, psyhoticism,

neuroticism and extraversion). This study shows profound differences in

intracellular magnesium levels and these parameters between children growing up

in an orphanage and children growing up at home. The adverse effect of low

intracellular magnesium on these parameters often translates into " bad behavior "

in school age children, which includes violence and mayhem.

People having problems with irritability, anxiety, depression, ADHD,

mania, hypo-mania, bi-polar disorder, hyper-excitability and hyper-emotionality

are all very closely tied to the latent potential for violence, outright

violence and mayhem, either self-inflicted or inflicted upon other people or

property. This is so well known, that I feel no pressure to cite volumes of

medical literature. It is common knowledge. Why has there been no medical

research on the role of magnesium deficit in violence and violence prevention?

Perhaps we are unwilling to accept the notion that the foods we eat affect our

minds, and would rather accept the notion that we have diseases curable by

powerful psychiatric drugs. Really? Who does the research on mental diseases?

Nutritionists? No. Psychiatrists and pharmaceutical drug companies? Yes. Is

there more money to be made in drugs or nutrients? Where does the money flow? No

need for me to answer these questions lest one consider me to be a

" conspiracy theorist " . Are physicians well trained in nutrition? Not many.

There is a void in the education of people we trust to take care of us when we

are ill that, to me, borders on criminality.

The way I see magnesium in violence and mayhem prevention is

potentially as a gentle injected sedative for use by emergency medical service

people, paramedics and other emergency medical professionals treating an

agitated, potentially violent individual; and in nature and nutrition, as a

natural gate or valve in the brain synapses that regulates influx of calcium

into postsynaptic calcium channels from presynaptic neurons in parts of the

brain that are involved in mood and behavior such as the hippocampus. With

inadequate magnesium or calcium toxicity, this function becomes altered and

irritability, anxiety, depression, ADHD, mania, hypo-mania, bi-polar disorder,

hyper-excitability and hyper-emotionality, and perhaps some psychoses, result.

If an exogenously or endogenously agitated person has weak moral, cultural

and/or religious training and beliefs, manifesting as few behavioral

inhibitions, and inadequate magnesium to inhibit his emoted actions, violence

may result. As a

society, we need to strengthen our moral, cultural and religious training and

beliefs, and we need much more magnesium in our diets to inhibit our actions

during times of emotional distress - often brought on by calcium and/or

glutamate toxicity.

Nearly ninety percent of all suicides result from depression (except

for Middle-Eastern crazed religious zealots who actually believe they are doing

good), which results from severe magnesium depletion due to stress or dietary

inadequacies or excessive losses of magnesium through the urine. Manic behavior

is nearly always outwardly directed, and a manic person may commit violence upon

another person or damage or destroy property during emotional outbursts.

Hyperexcitability, and hyperemotionality in persons with mania, hypo-mania,

by-polar disorder and ADHD have been shown in this essay to be nearly always

controllable with IV magnesium treatment, and are responsive to dietary

magnesium supplementation. Paul Mason makes a case for violence prevention

through a magnesium/serotonin connection. Although society has a major role to

play in preventing violence, proper magnesium nutrition plays an equal, if not

superior role - which remains generally unrecognized, even though

animal research shows increased aggressive behavior in magnesium deprived test

animals. Remember, the NIH reports that even modest magnesium deficits cause

irritability, and such does not impair one's strength or ability to mount

aggressive action and commit violence. I wonder if animals would become

aggressive and violent if they were deprived of magnesium rich whole grains by

feeding them refined bread, cheese and pizzas? I wonder if violence-prone

Palestinians and Arabs get enough magnesium in their diets?

What about Andrea Yeats' violence to her children? Andrea is the

Houston, Texas, lady that had a long history of severe depression and suicidal

tendencies and severe postpartum depression after the births of her most recent

two of her five children. Magnesium is fairly well known to be depleted by

pregnancies. I believe depletion of magnesium by multiple childbirth and

inadequate magnesium nutrition causes postpartum depression for reasons

explained here and throughout this essay generally. Is it possible that Andrea

suffered medical malpractice by not being treated for severe magnesium

deficiency brought on by her multiple pregnancies? Was she tested for magnesium

deficiency? At least seven women in response to this essay through 2003 having

had progressively worse problems with PPD in several previous pregnancies used

magnesium taurate to essentially prevent PPD after their most recent deliveries.

Is it possible that Andrea was so suicidal that in her psychotic mind

committing suicide (a side effect of grave magnesium depletion) was an

insufficient punishment to herself? If she were to commit suicide, who would

have taken care of her children? Was she so delusional she felt that killing her

children was the only way to save them from eternal damnation of a violent and

unholy world if she committed suicide? Doesn't it appear reasonable that she had

to kill her children before she killed herself? And that in a single moment of

sanity afterwards called 911 instead? Can magnesium deficiency be so severe that

not even suicide is sufficient?

What do you eat? Do your eating habits promote hyperexcitability or

depression from excess calcium? Succeed! Depression is not a

psychosis! Good Fats and Deadly Fats

We have been told all our lives that cholesterol is dangerous and that

we must limit our cholesterol intake. Based upon new evidence, we must revise

our thinking about cholesterol a little to take into consideration that very low

cholesterol will kill a person faster than high cholesterol. Generally, the

normal fasting concentration of total cholesterol is 160 to 200 mg/dL in serum.

Many cardiologists and pharmaceutical companies argue that the range should be

lower. However, in a series of recent clinical research reports since 1992,

people with low cholesterol (and some with low Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids)

were prone to suicide, violence, rage, depression, and violent impulsive

behavior often resulting in a death. This research is so new and so different

from conventional wisdom, that it has not made its way into mainstream

psychiatry. Psychiatrists may see people with this condition on occasion but

they rarely, if ever, see this as a serious mental health problem.

Search PubMed for " low cholesterol " " suicide " , " violence " , " death " and

" depression " for some of the most exciting psychiatric research every conducted.

I doubt that no one should purposefully raise his or her cholesterol intake if

it is in the normal range; but if it is significantly lower than 160 mg/dL,

consideration of its cause is mandatory and is extremely urgent.

Consequently, we must reconsider the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Statin drugs, or " HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors " , are the most widely prescribed

class of blood cholesterol-lowering drug. The top sellers as of this writing are

atorvastatin (Lipitor), which currently is given to 4 million persons in the US,

and simvastatin (Zocor), and pravastatin (Pravachol). Other statins include

fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Mevacor), and cerivastatin (Baycol). These

drugs have been shown to markedly reduce heart attacks, and to reduce strokes as

well as " peripheral arterial disease " (a disease that consists of 'clogging' of

the arteries to the legs). Many studies have confirmed reduction in heart

attacks and strokes. However, studies in monkeys, performed by Dr. Jay Kaplan at

Bowman Gray Medical School, have shown that lowering cholesterol in monkeys

makes them more aggressive; and also lowers activity of the brain chemical

serotonin. Low serotonin activity is known to relate to

suicide and depression in people; and to increased risk-taking behaviors in

monkeys. If these drugs pass through the blood-brain barrier, they would

interfere with vital brain cholesterol, the main biochemical component of the

brain. We must remember that there is vastly more cholesterol in the brain than

in any other organ, tissue or blood. The brain has its own support cells that

make brain cholesterol. In fact, about 60% of the brain (in all species) is

cholesterol. Cholesterol belongs in the brain and forms critical brain

structures. Upsetting that balance - either too much or too little - is harmful

to mental health. Too much and one risks strokes and Alzheimer's disease; and

too little, one risks mood disorders, violence and suicide. The unproven

hypothesis that cholesterol-lowering drugs save lives needs to be carefully

examined to see if deaths from violence and suicide equals or exceeds the number

of lives saved from heart attacks. To my way of thinking, one should not take

statin drugs more than absolutely necessary to maintain cholesterol in the

normal range, and only after trying to correct cholesterol levels using Omega-3

EFAs, taurine and magnesium. One of the tragedies of our time is over emphasis

of eliminating fats from our diets. Physicians, especially female physicians,

have bought into the erroneous theory of avoiding fats, and they consequently

have the highest suicide rates of any profession.

What about supplementing Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) to treat

depression too? Scientists long wondered why Eskimos and Japanese fishermen had

so little heart disease even though their fat intake was extremely high. After

much research, scientist found that oils from raw cold water fish contained a

heart protective oil known as Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid (EFA), which is

present in great excess over Omega-6 and Omega-9 EFAs. Watch this 2.5 MEG

Windows movie showing the extreme danger of Omega-3 EFA collection. I wanted the

very finest of Omega-3 EFAs, so I went to Alaska and went ice fishing for cold

water fish, but see what happened to me! You won't believe it! On the other

hand, in the Western diet the ratio of Omega 3 EFA to Omega-6 and Omega-9 is

reversed, with 6 and 9 being present in great excess over 3; consequently our

extensive cardiologic problems - highly solvable with increased dietary Omega-3

EFAs and magnesium. Unfortunately, Omega-3 EFAs and magnesium

are not used much in cardiology in favor of expensive, and very risky, statins.

Flax seed oil also has Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids in great abundance to the

Omega-6 and -9 oils, and is being used to improve cardiac and mental health.

Although Omega-3 EFA has had some use in treating depression, it has not been

exciting as an antidepressant when not taken with magnesium. When taken with

magnesium taurate, the results are often said to be spectacular, particularly in

treating anxiety. Do I take Omega-3 EFAs? Yes, and I will from now on. How much

do I take? I took 2 teaspoon of fresh (refrigerated) flax seed oil with each

meal for several months, but discontinued it due to severe side effects (benign

but strong cardiac arrhythmias caused by flaxseed's ability to greatly raise

blood sugar). Never take more than the product label recommends, because too

much Omega-3 EFA oils will solubilize cell membranes, raise blood sugars to

dangerous levels, and generally cause much worse problems

than they solve. Elevated blood sugars may be fine for Eskimos trying to keep

from freezing to death, but they are a definite no-no for people in a temperate

climate. What does the right amount of Omega-3 EFA do for me? Besides making it

easier to take large amounts of magnesium without diarrhea, it lifted my mood

and prevented anxiety even on the dreariest or meanest day. Does Omega-3 EFA

have other benefits to the brain? In England, large doses, enough to solubilize

cell membranes, has been used to cure schizophrenia. Mahatma Gandhi once said,

" Wherever flaxseed becomes a regular food item among people, there will be

better health. " Overdosing flaxseed oil can backfire resulting in cardiac

arrhythmias (probably from allergic reactions) and other side effects, of which,

Harvard Medical School writers offer considerable comment and warning here. Of

particular interest to men is the high content of phytoestrogens in flaxseed

oil. Feminization due to excessive consumption of plant

estrogens is just as likely, or more likely, from flaxseed as it is from

excessive soy bean consumption. Because I am male and have an allergy to

flaxseed, I now avoid flaxseed oil and use cod liver oil as a source of Omega-3

EFAs. However, I believe that the effects of taurine in preventing

cardiovascular disease are at least as important or more important than Omega-3

EFAs; and that eating eggs for Omega-3 EFAs and Ocean fish, and especially

conch, blood clams, inkfish, clams, shell fish, crabs, prawns pig hearts, and

chicken legs (but not chicken breasts), for taurine is the safest way to obtain

these benefits.

Lets not forget lecithin. Lecithin is a lipid that is required by every

single cell in your body and is an important source of inositol and phosphate.

Inositol has been reported to be effective in treating central nervous system

disorders such as depression, Alzheimer's disease, panic disorder, and

obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and

acetylcholine in the brain depend on inositol to function properly. The cell

membranes in the body are composed largely of lecithin and water. These

membranes handle the flow of nutrients in and out of the cell. The protective

sheaths around your brain are also made of lecithin. Muscles and nerve cells

also use lecithin. Should everyone take lecithin or inositol? Not necessarily.

Although, inositol has therapeutic effects in the spectrum of illness responsive

to serotonin selective re-uptake inhibitors, including depression, panic and

OCD, it may not be beneficial, in patients with schizophrenia.

Bad fats? Practically everything that is man made or processed,

especially hydrogenated fats, margarine, and trans fatty acids. More on

essential fatty acids and their role in preventing cancer are here.

Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis! Lithium / Magnesium Interactions

I want to know more about lithium / magnesium interactions. We know that

magnesium is primarily an intracellular metal. We have seen above that lithium

pulls magnesium out of cells and into the blood serum. Yet, we see low levels of

serum magnesium in suicidally depressed patients. High dose IV magnesium

terminated treatment-resistant mania. We also see that about 40 percent of

lithium treated manic-depressive patients have a relapse. There is clearly more

to the lithium / magnesium interaction story than we currently know. Questions

to be answered include:

Which cells, organelle, enzymes and proteins are being drained of their

magnesium by lithium and what are the binding constants applicable?

Which brain cells, organelle, enzymes and proteins are up taking the freed

magnesium and what are the binding constants applicable?

Is the beneficial effect of dietary supplements of magnesium substituting for

the blood magnesium raising effect of lithium?

Is low or falling magnesium blood content a marker for mania or depression in

otherwise well people having a history of mania and/or depression?

In relapse during lithium treatment, do the relapsing patients have low blood

serum levels of magnesium?

Are the side effects of lithium treatment the result of its intracellular

magnesium depleting function?

Should magnesium be used to treat mania and/or depression before drugs are

tried, or should it be a treatment of last resort, or should it be used as an

adjuvant to other drug treatment?

Are neurotransmitter fluxes and functions optimized in magnesium responsive

mania and depression?

Is lithium an inappropriate treatment in cases where magnesium

supplementation is effective in eliminating mania and/or depression? YES!!!!!

Is raising blood magnesium concentrations all that is necessary to prevent

and terminate mania and depression, and prevent relapses of mania or depression?

NO!!! It must be maintained!

Is the effect of magnesium relevant to only a subset of people with

depression, or a subset of people with manic depression; or is it universally

relevant?

 

In 1998, lithium's action in regulating both mania and depression was

ascribed to its ability to regulate glutamate levels in the brain. As reported

in the July 7 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers

found that in mice brains, lithium exerts a push/pull effect on the

neurotransmitter glutamate, eventually causing it to level off in a stable zone

where it can control both extremes. I don't know if the effect of lithium in

human brains is the same as in mice brains, but I do know that I felt much

better taking magnesium than lithium. Regardless, both magnesium and lithium

control the ups and downs of bi-polar illness. Why? It is simple, the final

stage of the recycling process of IP3 involves inositol monophosphate, which

controls the levels of IP3 and controls mood swings. The enzyme needs two atoms

of magnesium to function, an element which is much more similar to lithium than

calcium (the diagonal relationship). Computer modeling shows that

lithium binds to the second magnesium site, especially if phosphate is present.

This stops the enzyme working. Thus IP3 is not broken down. The lithium only

works on an overactive enzyme, one that breaks down IP3 too quickly causing mood

swings. Why not give magnesium? Seems pretty stupid (and criminal?) to me to

give lithium when magnesium is being called for by the brain. Succeed!

Depression is not a psychosis! Biochemistry

Magnesium is a critical element in 350+ biochemical reactions and

enzymes in the human body, and many of them are brain biochemicals. Magnesium is

the second-most abundant intracellular cation and; overall, the fourth-most

abundant cation. Almost all enzymatic processes using phosphorus as an energy

source require magnesium for activation. Magnesium is involved in nearly every

aspect of biochemical metabolism [eg, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein

synthesis, glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation]. Nearly all enzymes involved

in phosphorus reactions (eg, adenosine triphosphatase [ATPase]) require

magnesium for activation. Magnesium serves as a molecular stabilizer of

ribonucleic acid (RNA), DNA, and ribosomes. Because magnesium is bound to ATP

inside the cell, shifts in intracellular magnesium concentration may help

regulate cellular bioenergetics such as mitochondrial respiration.

Extracellularly, magnesium ions block neurosynaptic transmission by interfering

with the

release of acetylcholine. Magnesium ions also may interfere with the release of

catecholamines from the adrenal medulla. Magnesium has been proposed as an

endogenous endocrine modulator of the catecholamine component of the physiologic

stress response, a main thrust of this essay. Recent research in France and

several other European countries gives clues concerning the role magnesium plays

in the transmission of hormones (such as insulin, thyroid, estrogen,

testosterone, DHEA, etc.), neurotransmitters (such as dopamine, catecholamines,

serotonin, GABA, etc.), and minerals and mineral electrolytes. Consequently, its

deficiency and a linkage to depression should be expected. Succeed!

Depression is not a psychosis! Magnesium in Water

Natural magnesium in water (magnesium carbonate dissolved in CO2-rich

water) is suggested to be more bio-available than magnesium in food or pill, and

is suggested to offer greater cardio-protection. However, these mineral waters

are not commercially available at your grocery store at this time. A citizen's

petition for the voluntary fortification of beverages has been submitted to the

FDA, but was rejected. Scientists have advocated increasing hard water

consumption to gain minerals such as magnesium. This idea has merit in

depression for two reasons. We would increase our magnesium intake from drinking

hard water. Second, the feeling that we associate as being " hungry " is often a

disguised desire for water - thirst! Consequently, we get our water from the

foods we eat, along with the calories associated with unhealthy, demoralizing

weight gain - if we eat the wrong foods. See this link for more on eating

disorders.

Magnesium-rich mineral waters are available in most of the world, and a

few sources are available in the United States. For example, NOAH's Spring Water

in Modesto, CA is made from Adobe Springs water and contains 110 mg/liter

magnesium. Ditto Hi-O-Silver oxygenated water, also bottled in Modesto by 7-Up.

Coca-Cola has a brand new beverage that is probably the best-for-you beverage

ever marketed by a major soft drink company. It is loaded with magnesium sulfate

and potassium chloride, so loaded one can clearly taste the metals. What is it

called? Dasani!!!! Genesee Valley water has a high magnesium content and is

bottled in Michigan. Here is a list of the magnesium content of some of the

waters bottled in the US. For a complete list of hundreds of magnesium-rich

waters bottled throughout the world, Succeed!

Depression is not a psychosis! Cocaine / Magnesium

Magnesium given to mice was shown to increase the potency of a single

dose of cocaine and a magnesium-deficient diet reduced its potency. On the other

hand, with chronic cocaine use magnesium countered cocaine's effects, according

to these medical researchers. Perhaps cocaine abuse in people could be

controlled with high dose magnesium. Perhaps the cocaine-like property of

magnesium is the property that elevates mood in depression refractory to

antidepressants.

Exposure of cocaine HCl (10-9 to 10-7 molar) resulted in significant,

rapid (1 minute) loss of intracellular free magnesium ions (Mg2+ ion) in

cultured canine cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells; these reductions (12-25%)

in Mg2+ ion were reversible upon exposure to normal, Mg2+ ion -containing

physiological salt solution. These findings help to provide a rational basis for

why cocaine can result in cerebrovasospasm, and hemorrhagic stroke. Here are

examples for rats and dogs. Other researchers have found data that suggests that

magnesium salts might be useful agents in the treatment of cocaine-induced

intoxication and prevention of brain damage. Considerable additional evidence

for benefit of " magnesium " in " cocaine " toxicity in laboratory research is now

available in this PubMed search. Succeed! Depression is not a

psychosis! Mitral Valve Prolapse

Along with depression, mitral valve prolapse is often found in young

thin women. Among the curable disorders associated with the heart that are

magnesium deficiencies are mitral valve prolapse according to this Russian

study. These young ladies watch their weight and avoid fattening foods which

coincidentally are the main dietary source of magnesium. Additional on this

relationship can be found by searching PubMed using " mitral valve prolapse " and

" magnesium " as keywords. Also see Magnesium Deficiency in the Pathogenesis of

Mitral Valve Prolapse and Mitral Valve Prolapse. The way in which magnesium

affects mitral valve prolapse relates to leaky heart valves having hardened

tissue, possibly from tiny calcium deposits in the valves. Just like a hardened

rubber gasket in a water valve can leak, a supple new rubber gasket doesn't

leak. In the same way, magnesium makes tissues suppler. Consequently, proper

magnesium nutrition eliminates the incidence of mitral valve prolapse and

repleating magnesium to proper levels reverses it after a year of treatment as

shown in the Russian study. Clinical symptoms of mitral valve prolapse are

related to hypomagnesemia and attenuated by magnesium supplementation. After 5

weeks of magnesium therapy, the mean number of symptoms per patient decreased

from 10.4 +/- 2.1 to 5.6 +/- 2.5 (p < 0.0001), and a significant reduction in

weakness, chest pain, dyspnea, arrhythmias, and anxiety was observed. Increased

noradrenalin excretion before and after magnesium was seen in 63% and 17% of

patients, respectively (p < 0.01). Mean daily excretion of noradrenalin and

adrenaline (catecholamines or stress hormones) was significantly diminished

after magnesium. It is concluded that many patients with heavily symptomatic MVP

have low serum magnesium, and supplementation of this ion leads to improvement

in most symptoms along with a decrease in catecholamine excretion.

Interestingly, there are now over 4000 articles about magnesium and

cardiology on the Internet, with nearly all showing benefit to the heart and

cardiovascular system, usually through management of calcium and relaxation of

cardiac muscles. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis! Other

Nutrients Important in Depression

Potassium is very important in magnesium metabolism. Few of us get

enough potassium unless we frequently eat bananas, tomatoes and potatoes and use

Morton's Salt Substitute, which contains nearly pure potassium chloride, which

helps balance our pre-salted foods' high content of sodium chloride. These

minerals, sodium and potassium, should be consumed in the same meal because they

work together to determine the body's electrolyte balance, which regulates water

levels. Eating a lot of salty (sodium chloride) food disrupts this balance and

harmfully lowers magnesium concentrations. This not only produces high blood

pressure, but also affects neurotransmitter levels, producing depression and

PMS. In addition, the misuse of diuretics, or " water pills, " can lead to

potassium deficiency, which in turn can manifest itself as depression.

In Dr. Mildred S. Seelig's new book The magnesium Factor on page 61 is a

fascinating table that shows exactly why we have problems with increased stress

and stress-induced depression (treatment resistant depression) from a mineral

perspective. Although she is addressing the enormous increase in incidence of

hypertension and cardiac problems in the later part of the twentieth century

compared to 1900, the data also explains the enormous increase in emotional

problems.

Changes in Average Mineral Intake, Mineral Ratios in the Diet and

HypertensionThis table from " The magnesium Factor " shows the change in the

average mineral intake and balances that have occurred among the American

population between 1900 and 2000. Note the great rise in sodium and the decline

in both magnesium and potassium.IndicatorYear 1900Year 2000Average daily sodium

intake200 mg5,000 (25 times higher than in 1900)Average daily potassium

intake6000 mg2,000 mg (2/3 lower than in 1900)Average daily magnesium intake400

mg250-300 mg (2/3 lower than in 1900Average sodium:potassium ratio1:302.5:1 (75

times higher)Average sodium:magnesium ratio1:225:1 (50 times higher)Incidence of

hypertension and stress induced illnessesLowHigh

 

Clearly, this horrific change in dietary intake of these critical

minerals affects our emotional and mental health. We are eating too few

vegetables and much too much processed foods and salt and not enough magnesium

to keep us in good health. Although this essay relates primarily to the

relatively unknown value of magnesium in treating depression and related

disorders, it is not the only nutrient important in treating depression. Here

are more interesting and highly revealing tid-bits on diet and emotions. Other

natural remedies for depression include supplements of the amino acids

L-tyrosine, D,L-phenylalanine, L-tryptophan, Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), Folic

acid, Vitamin B12, taurine, CoQ10 and Vitamin C. Here is a link for kids

concerning nutrient deficiencies and mental health, which adults can learn from

also.

This is VitaRoyal's Mineral Wheel. It represents the competitive

interactions between different metals during absorption in the intestines. Many

metals interfere with absorbtion of others. Dietary bias in favor of one

mineral, say magnesium, will affect absorption of several other minerals, mainly

calcium and manganese. What we eat and drink can influence our magnesium

balance, but not to the extent that is caused by large supplements of minerals.

It should be noted that magnesium and calcium share a common route of absorption

in the intestinal tract and appear to have a mutually suppressive effect; thus,

if calcium intake (or dairy intake) is unusually high, calcium will be absorbed

in preference to magnesium. Also, excessive doses of vitamin D (perhaps

explaining SAD in summer), calcium supplements and glucose can cause renal

magnesium loss. Excessive calcium, animal fat, saturated fats, manganese and

phosphorus decrease intestinal absorption. Alcohol, caffeine, sugar,

potassium and sodium increase urinary excretion. Folic acid may increase the

metabolic need for magnesium. High protein and excessive sugar (glucose) in the

diet definitely require increased magnesium intake, sometimes to the upper limit

possible. High dose riboflavin may increase the risk of magnesium deficiency.

Vitamin B6 increases cell membrane transfer and utilization of magnesium, and is

very helpful, indispensable, in retaining magnesium.

People like me that have craved milk, cheese and ice cream products

from childhood usually have an allergy (eventually becoming a maladaption) to

milk products. The maladaption stage may wait 20 years, even 30, before setting

in. Then come headaches, depression, cramps, and diarrhea. The milk allergy

never really left. If eliminating milk from the diet helps depression symptoms,

by all means don't drink milk - none! Since cheese is a potent source of

calcium, competition with magnesium for intestinal binding sites may result in

reduced magnesium absorption helping to cause depression symptoms. Scientists

believe that lactose malabsorption from milk and dairy products may interfere

with the availability of L-tryptophan and the synthesis of serotonin. Both

substances are anti-depressants, suggesting food supplements of L-tryptophan and

lactase enzyme (Lactaid®) in depressed lactose intolerant people.

Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis! Tryptophan, 5-HTP and

Serotonin

No discussion of depression can be complete without considering the

role of classical antidepressants including tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan

(5-HTP), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, (SSRIs), tricyclic

antidepressants, atypical antidepressants, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors

(MAOIs). Examples of SSRIs include Fluoxetine (Prozac®, Sarafem®), sertraline

(Zoloft®), and paroxetine (Paxil®). Other antidepressants include tricyclic

antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil®), imipramine (Tofranil®) and,

nortriptyline (Pamelor®), atypical antidepressants including trazodone

(Desyrel®), nefazodone (Serzone®), buproprion (Wellbutrin® and MAOIs including

phenelzine (Nardil®), and tranylcypromine (Parnate®). A much more comprehensive

list of psychiatric drugs and their pharmacology is here. These are some of the

most financially lucrative drugs on the market and are taken by many millions of

people. The theory, extremely briefly, is that depressives are deficient in

certain biochemicals. Serotonin (5-HT) is selectively targeted by SSRIs, while

tricyclic antidepressants affect the uptake of norepinephrine, serotonin and

dopamine to different degrees. Atypical antidepressants have actions not well

understood. MAOIs increase the levels of norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine

by inhibiting an enzyme that inactivates them. These drugs will " fix our

biochemistry " and make us feel better. Have you tried these drugs? Did you

experience horrible side effects? I did. Fix my biochemistry? HA! Really! Did

your doctor tell you that you would need to be on these drugs for at least a

month before they worked? I wonder how many people would get better in the same

time without them?

Have you wondered where these drugs came from? Who thought them up?

Well, you are in real luck now, because I now offer you the chance of a lifetime

to read a report by one of the Nobel Laurates who came up with the SSRIs, Dr.

Arvid Carlsson. He writes in 1999 " A Half-Century of Neurotransmitter Research:

Impact on Neurology and Psychiatry " . This is first class reading! BUT! The

American Psychological Association says that the main effect of these drugs is

one of a placebo effect.

Many people have serious side effects (see this registry) while taking

these drugs; and in the case of Prozac, and other chemically similar drugs, have

had strong suicidal tendencies after withdrawal from them. There is an online

petition addressed to the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States;

The Department of Health & Human Services; The Federal Bureau of Investigations

and The Justice Department currently signed by more then 10,000 petitioners

demanding a Grand Jury Investigation into serious misconduct concerning Prozac

on the part of Eli Lilly, the drug’s manufacturer. Specifically, the petitioners

assert that Eli Lilly has known of and engaged in the suppression of the truth

concerning the drug’s ability to cause suicide and suicidal ideation. They

assert that Eli Lilly has knowingly and fraudulently concealed facts surrounding

its drug’s deadly side effects. Documented findings of cover-ups supporting

their demand include, but are not limited to, the

following: See petition here. This tendency toward suicide upon stopping these

drugs causes many people to continue taking them after their need for them has

passed. Probably all of these drugs have side effects in some people and many

have serious side effects upon withdrawal. Search Google.com for your

antidepressant and add the terms " withdrawal " and " side effects " to see what

risk you are exposed to upon withdrawal. Many of these drugs have class-action

lawsuits filed against them. In your Google.com search, add the words

" class-action " or " class action " to find these lawsuits. Use quotation marks in

your search to multi-word terms to find the exact term. Strangely, perhaps to

the cynic, predictably few physicians counsel their patients about the risks

associated with withdrawal. Perhaps a greatly over-simplified explanation for

" withdrawal " side effects is that by use of these drugs, brain chemicals are

provided from a bottle, not from the brain's own biochemical factory. This

results in shifts in brain biochemical production that over time can not be

quickly altered by the brain upon a sudden withdrawal. Consequently, the

symptoms return and often they return with a vengeance. In a saner world, many

of these drugs would probably be considered the ultimate in crazy, illegal, and

addictive drugs, having side effects as bad as illegal street drugs.

The Prozac Truth web site contains much information about issues related

to Prozac and other SSRIs. The site also describes the side effects of SSRIs and

other antidepressants and psychiatric medication, and recommends nutritional

supplements and other strategies to counteract side effects and assist with

withdrawal. One finding mentioned is that low levels of glutathione (an amino

acid consisting of cysteine, glutamic acid and glycine), which is manufactured

only inside cells, causes many of the side effects of classical antidepressants

and that nutritional support might help. Magnesium deficiency is rampant in

depression and scientists have recently found that low intracellular magnesium

causes low intracellular glutathione (explore this google.com search).

Consequently, if you are taking a SSRI and want to minimize side effects and

accelerate recovery, magnesium supplementation will likely be very beneficial.

Each of the above drugs affects serotonin levels, either exclusively or

along with other brain biochemicals. The best way to address true serotonin

deficiency may not be through these potentially dangerous drugs. Rather, the

answer may lie in precursors to serotonin such as tryptophan and 5-HTP and

repletion of magnesium. Low magnesium has been implicated in low serotonin,

resulting in depression and sometimes violence. Clearly, from this essay,

magnesium is involved with mood and mental health. The effect of magnesium

supplementation is much more rapid on depression than any psychiatric drug,

tryptophan or 5-HTP taken without magnesium, suggesting the need for increased

magnesium, and perhaps one or more of these drugs or natural precursors to

serotonin. However, remmeber that the effects of most antidepressants is one of

a placebo effect.

Unfortunately, most people seeking help from physicians for depression

also seek their help for other illnesses too. Seems like when the " brain goes

south " that everything else does too. Consequently, other drugs are also used by

depressives, some of which deplete magnesium and other critical nutrients.

Although there is very little published about the depletion of nutrients by

SSRIs there is much known about the depletion of nutrients by other drugs. Drugs

that are known to deplete magnesium include: Premarin (conjugated estrogens),

Lasix (furosemide), Hydrochlorothiazide, Triamterene/HCTZ, Prednisone, Ortho

Tri-Cyclen (norgestimate/ethinyl estradiol), Prempro (conjugated

estrogens/medroxyprogesterone) and Flovent (fluticasone). Catherine Creel has

listed the nutrient depletion effects of the 45 most commonly prescribed drugs

in the Medicine Garden web site. If you are taking any prescription or

non-prescription drugs, you need to review her page and supplement accordingly.

Catherine alarmingly points out: " Drugs that are used primarily to address

mental status show a distinct pattern of a lack of nutrient depletion studies.

People who take any of these drugs long term usually develop digestion problems,

thyroid problems, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune

disorders, kidney and liver weakness and/or disease, loss of energy and

interests, and have a higher incidence of cancers than those who do not take any

of these. " Conseqently, they often resort to use of additional drugs to treat

those side effects. You have been warned!

Tryptophan is an amino acid found in our food. It was a very popular

natural antidepressant several decades ago, but was prohibited by the FDA for

sale for a few years in the United States until 1994 when the DSHEA, was passed.

Tryptophan was prohibited because a single batch was improperly made in Japan

using genetically engineered bacteria, causing eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome

(EMS) in about 1500 cases, including at least 37 known deaths. Many thought that

the real reason was to protect the lucrative pharmaceutical company drug trade.

While tryptophan prohibition may have been needless, it had one unforeseen

benefit. It allowed researchers to focus on 5-HTP; which, it turns out, may be

much better than tryptophan ever was for treating disorders that appear to be

related to a deficiency of serotonin in the brain including depression. Examples

of the tryptophan levels in a few foods are listed below.

FOODSERVING SIZE TRYPTOPHAN (mg)Pineapple, fresh1 cup8Pineapple, juice-packed1

cup13Yogurt, plain1 cup51Turkey, light meat, roasted3.5 oz340Turkey, dark meat,

roasted3.5 oz325Chicken, light meat, roasted3.5 oz361Chicken, dark meat,

roasted3.5 oz303Banana1 medium14Almonds, dry roasted1 oz83Cashews, dry roasted1

oz67Peanuts, dry roasted1 oz64Sunflower seeds, dry roasted1 oz84

5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is an amino acid. Commercial 5-HTP is not a

manufactured chemical but is found in high concentrations in a herb, namely the

dark brown seed of Griffonia simplicifolia, an African plant. Consequently,

5-HTP is less likely to have a potential for manufacturing mistakes and is

generally considered to be safe when used in low doses. Our bodies make 5-HTP

from tryptophan and convert it to serotonin, an important brain chemical.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid found in turkey, chicken, milk, potatoes,

pumpkin, sunflower seeds, turnip, collard greens and seaweed. With the exception

of seaweed, don't these foods sound like foods we eat to celebrate our American

Thanksgiving Day? Tryptophan and 5-HTP dietary supplements help raise serotonin

levels in the brain, which produce a positive effect on sleep, mood, anxiety,

aggression, appetite, temperature, sexual behavior, and pain sensation. 5-HTP

has been neglected by many psychiatrists and mental

health scientists despite tantalizing hints in the scientific literature that

it may have profound effects on a variety of extremely common and often

debilitating ailments such as depression. Perhaps this neglect comes from its

lack of patentability and profitability. 5-HTP has no national advertising

campaigns in its support. The NIH, FDA and other governmental agencies are more

concerned about the public finding its efficacy and using it over the more

thoroughly researched pharmaceutical company manufactured antidepressants. It is

the same old story, nature knows best, but pharmaceutical companies have the big

bucks. Yet, clinical trials show that it is more effective, has fewer side

effects than several prescription antidepressants, and takes about the same

amount of time as prescription antidepressants to become effective. 5-HTP is

generally better tolerated than its SSRI counterparts, such as Prozac®. The

following chart compares the rate of side effects between 5-HTP and

SSRIs.

Side Effect% of Patients Experiencing Side Effect5-HTPSSRIsNausea

Headache

Nervousness

Insomnia

Anxiety

Drowsiness

Diarrhea

Tremor

Dry mouth

Sweating

Dizziness

Constipation

Vision Changes

9

5

2.5

2.5

2.5

7

2.5

0

7

2.5

5

5

0

23

20

16

17

14

11

12

11

12

9

7

5.5

4

Source: 5-HTP The Natural Way to Overcome Depression, Obesity, and Insomnia by

Michael Murray, N.D.

In magnesium replete people, 5-HTP can work overnight; again strongly

implicating low magnesium as the cause of slow or limited response to

prescription and herbal anti-depressants. There are many over-the-counter

sources of 5-HTP. Nearly every health food store has it and absolutely no

prescription is required. Here is a link to sources of 5-HTP on the Internet.

Does 5-HTP have other beneficial effects? Yes. 5-HTP may, in fact, be treating a

much broader disease termed " serotonin deficiency syndrome. " This syndrome may

manifest in any of a variety of forms, including depression, anxiety,

sleeplessness, aggressiveness, agitation, obsessive-compulsive traits,

migraines, and other common behavioral disorders; in short, everything that is

currently being treated with expensive SSRIs today. Is 5-HTP a threat to major

pharmaceutical company income and stock prices? Yes. Should we expect some kind

of pharmaceutical company organized attack on 5-HTP? YES, but DSHEA will block

those

attacks to a large degree - at least until Congress can be convinced to revise

DSHEA by implementation of CODEX. At least the public will have a chance to be

involved in that political process. What are the side effects and

contraindications? Large excesses of serotonin in the peripheral circulation can

cause cardiovascular disease and other adverse effects. Alcohol does not mix

well with 5-HTP. See full list of side effects and contraindications here. Too

much 5-HTP in the diet could potentially result in too much serotonin in the

peripheral circulation causing cardiovascular disease. The literature suggests

that 5-HTP can be safely used as a nutritional supplement at a dosage of up to

100 milligrams (mg) per day. Some authorities maintain that much larger dosages

can be consumed without adverse effects. Some also suggest that 5-HTP,

especially in larger doses should be used with the prescription drug " carbidopa "

to prevent the cardiovascular problem. There is a warning about too

much vitamin B-6 with 5-HTP. All in all, 5-HTP seems much safer and more

effective, particularly when used with magnesium, than prescription drugs.

Perhaps the most startling story of results with 5-HTP occurred in the treatment

of a man that had not been able to sleep for 4 months, possibly due to a viral

infection of the brain. 5-HTP given in large doses (2 to 12 grams) first

improved the patient's condition dramatically. After 5-HTP withdrawal there was

a gradual worsening of the patient's condition. 5-HTP therapy was again

attempted but was then ineffective in reversing the symptoms and the patient

died after 11 months of sickness. Other precautions are at 5-HTP Danger, and

include warnings about use in lactation, pregnancy, use with other

antidepressants, and other health conditions. Other general is here. Of concern

to me is what side effects can be expected upon withdrawal from 5-HTP? I found

none, but strongly suspect there could be some. I base this reasoning on the

fact

that all of the serotonin enhancing agents, when suddenly discontinued present

the brain with a major change in serotonin levels, a change to which the brain

can not suddenly adapt. Abuse of any of these agents can cause serotonin

toxicity.

 

 

 

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