Low Serum Mg Levels associated with thickening of the Carotid wall

[Guest guest]

Low Serum Mg Levels associated with thickening of the Carotid wall

Oct 22, 2004 19:25 PDT

 

Magnesium deficiency is common and " deadly " . Diuretics, heart conditions,

exercise, and the ECA stack influence magnesium status.

 

The " processing " of food results in large " losses " of vital nutrients. For

example, white bread contains about 40% less magnesium than organic

*whole grain* bread.

 

In addition, since World War II, the amount of magnesium in our

food has steadily declined due to farming methods and the use of

fertilizers that only replenish nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium

(9-BK). Thus, there is reason to doubt whether even the best diet can

provide an optimum amount of magnesium.

(moderator's note: Might I also add that these same fertilizers deplete our

soils over an extended period of time! If you're curious, this had already

occurred.

This is the reason why we currently have so many magnesium-deficiency related

health problems!)

 

In light of all this, it is amazing that Big Brother actually tells

people NOT to take supplements. Lets face it, Big Brother can tell

people to eat 3,000 servings of fresh vegetables a day till he's blue in

the face, but how many people are going to choose broccoli over pizza?

Thus, most of the people who listen to the " official " party line about

supplements are left in the following predicament:

 

" In developed countries, the Mg [magnesium] intake [from food] is often

marginal and the Mg intake coming from " drinking water " represents the

critical factor through which the Mg intake is deficient or satisfactory

 

.. . . all [Mg studies have] shown a reverse correlation between

cardiovascular mortality [death] and the Mg level " (1).

 

Isn't that amazing? Unless you take supplements or eat an

extraordinarily good diet, you are participating in the magnesium

lottery -- gambling your life on the quality of the WATER in your town.

 

Yikes! When you hear some " expert " parroting the old line about how we

can get all the nutrients that we need from food, what they are really

saying -- to the vast majority of people -- is that instead of taking

supplements (the dangerous practice of " self-medication " ), we should

just hope and/or pray that there is enough magnesium in the water.

 

If you listen to these clowns, you are playing the magnesium lottery.

And if you get a losing ticket in THIS lottery, you die.

 

Written Aug 2000 Last Update Aug 2000

A Bunch Of Scary Studies

 

OK, now I know it's easy to criticize epidemiological studies. Actually,

there is also quite a bit of clinical and laboratory research supporting

the need for magnesium supplementation. However, since the magnesium

lottery is a global water quality game, we really should dive in a

little deeper:

 

" A consistent pattern has emerged, indicative of a global phenomenon,

which illustrates the importance of waterborne magnesium in protecting

against cardiovascular trauma and other ailments " (2).

 

Here are the lottery results from Sweden: " The odds ratios for death

from acute myocardial infarction in the groups were inversely related to

the amount of magnesium in drinking water " (4).

 

Scientists in Taiwan studied over 17,000 cerebrovascular deaths and

found that the unlucky people who lived in low magnesium areas were more

likely to die of strokes: " there is a significant protective effect of

magnesium intake from drinking water on the risk of cerebrovascular

disease " ).

The scientists in Taiwan have been quite busy. They also found that low

magnesium levels in drinking water are related to the risk of death from

hypertension (6), diabetes mellitus ( , and an astonishing " 42% excess

risk of mortality from esophageal cancer " (7).

 

In light of the uncertainties of the magnesium lottery, it should not be

too big of a surprise to find that magnesium deficiency has been found

in a large percentage of hospital patients (I'll spare you the joke

about hospital food) -- and this has been linked to " cardiovascular

abnormalities,

ranging from cardiac arrhythmias

and atrial fibrillation

to hypertension " (12).

 

In addition, low serum magnesium levels are associated with thickening

of the carotid wall and high fasting insulin levels .

 

The elevated insulin levels reflect an attempt to compensate for

impaired insulin receptor function caused by magnesium

deficiency). Proper insulin function requires a LOT more than popping a

chromium pill everyday.

 

I could go on and on, but Altura et al. did a good job of summing up the

overwhelming evidence of the health problems that are related to

magnesium deficiency:

 

" It is now becoming clear that a lower than normal dietary intake of Mg

[magnesium] can be a strong risk factor for hypertension, cardiac

arrhythmias, ischemic heart disease, atherogenesis and sudden cardiac

death. Deficits in serum Mg appear often to be associated with

arrhythmias, coronary vasospasm and high blood pressure " (15).

 

http://www.drumlib.com/dp/000014.htm

 

 

The processing of food results in large losses of vital nutrients. For

example, white bread contains about 40% less magnesium than whole wheat

bread. In addition, since World War II, the amount of magnesium in our

food has steadily declined due to farming methods and the use of

fertilizers that only replenish nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium

(9-BK). Thus, there is reason to doubt whether even the best diet can

provide an optimum amount of magnesium.

 

In light of all this, it is amazing that Big Brother actually tells

people NOT to take supplements. Lets face it, Big Brother can tell

people to eat 3,000 servings of fresh vegetables a day till he's blue in

the face, but how many people are going to choose broccoli over pizza?

Thus, most of the people who listen to the official party line about

supplements are left in the following predicament:

 

" In developed countries, the Mg [magnesium] intake [from food] is often

marginal and the Mg intake coming from drinking water represents the

critical factor through which the Mg intake is deficient or satisfactory

.. . . all [Mg studies have] shown a reverse correlation between

cardiovascular mortality [death] and the Mg level " (1).

 

Isn't that amazing? Unless you take supplements or eat an

extraordinarily good diet, you are participating in the magnesium

lottery -- gambling your life on the quality of the WATER in your town.

Yikes! When you hear some " expert " parroting the old line about how we

*can* get all the nutrients that we need from food, what they are really

saying -- to the vast majority of people -- is that instead of taking

supplements (the dangerous practice of " self-medication " ), we should

just hope and/or pray that there is enough magnesium in the water. If

you listen to these clowns, you are playing the magnesium lottery. And

if you get a losing ticket in THIS lottery, you die.

 

Written

Aug 2000

Last Update

Aug 2000

A Bunch Of Scary Studies

OK, now I know it's easy to criticize epidemiological studies. Actually,

there is also quite a bit of clinical and laboratory research supporting

the need for magnesium supplementation. However, since the magnesium

lottery is a global water quality game, we really should dive in a

little deeper:

 

" A consistent pattern has emerged, indicative of a global phenomenon,

which illustrates the importance of waterborne magnesium in protecting

against cardiovascular trauma and other ailments " .

 

Here are the lottery results from Sweden:

" The odds ratios for death

from acute myocardial infarction in the groups were inversely related to

the amount of magnesium in drinking water " (4). Scientists in Taiwan

studied over 17,000 cerebrovascular deaths and found that the unlucky

people who lived in low magnesium areas were more likely to die of

strokes:

" there is a significant protective effect of magnesium intake

from drinking water on the risk of cerebrovascular disease " (5). The

scientists in Taiwan have been quite busy. They also found that low

magnesium levels in drinking water are related to the risk of death from

hypertension (6), diabetes mellitus (, and an astonishing " 42% excess

risk of mortality from esophageal cancer " (7).

 

In light of the uncertainties of the magnesium lottery, it should not be

too big of a surprise to find that magnesium deficiency has been found

in a large percentage of hospital patients (I'll spare you the joke

about hospital food) --

and this has been linked to " cardiovascular abnormalities, ranging from

cardiac arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation

to hypertension " (12).

 

In addition, low serum magnesium levels are associated with thickening

of the carotid wall and high fasting insulin

levels (13).

 

The elevated insulin levels reflect an attempt to

compensate for impaired insulin receptor function caused by magnesium

deficiency (14)

 

Diuretics And Magnesium

My mother has congestive heart failure. Although I told her (many times)

about the benefits of supplements, she did not want to take them: " I

have to take a handful of drugs everyday and I don't want to take ANY

more pills " was her usual response. Trips to the emergency room occurred

frequently. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, the diuretics (water

pills) that she was getting from her doctor were depleting her potassium

and endangering her life.

 

The best that several doctors and a heart specialist could do was to

give her potassium-sparing diuretics and higher doses of potassium.

 

This did no good because she was not retaining the potassium.

Eventually, her potassium got so low that she almost died -- I found her

on the floor unable to move. Another trip to the emergency room.

 

This traumatic experience convinced my mother that the doctors were

unable to get a handle on this potassium problem. She didn't want to end

up paralyzed again, so she agreed to take whatever I thought would help

this potassium problem -- as long as it involved a " reasonable " amount

of pills (I take a LOT of supplements).

 

That night I did a MEDLINE computer search of the medical literature.

For the life of me, I can't imagine why the doctors and the specialist

(expensivist?) couldn't figure the problem out -- the reason why my

mother was unable to retain potassium was easy to find. In fact, there

is so much research on this that it's hard not to trip over it. You do

NOT have to be Sherlock Holmes.

Here are a few clues:

 

A medical article titled " Refractory potassium repletion. A consequence

of magnesium deficiency " explains how diuretics flush a lot more than

potassium out of your system -- and if (when) you get low in magnesium,

you will be unable to retain potassium:

 

" Patients with hypertension and with congestive heart failure appear to

be at special risk for magnesium depletion because diuretics are

commonly prescribed in treatment . . . Experimental and clinical

observations support the view that uncorrected magnesium deficiency

impairs repletion of cellular potassium . . . consideration should be

given to treating hypokalemic [low potassium] patients with both

magnesium as well as potassium to avoid the problem of refractory

potassium repletion due to coexisting magnesium deficiency " (19).

[emphasis added]

 

Consideration??? I nominate that for the understatement of the year

award. Lets see . . . hmm . . . If the patient doesn't take magnesium

supplements, she will die. Hmm . . . Maybe we should give them thar

suppulments some " consideration. " What do you think, Jethro?

 

I realize that medical professionals are busy and abstracts contain up

to 250 words, but just the TITLE of this article should have given the

doctors and the highly paid specialist a

clue: " Potassium/magnesium

depletion in patients with cardiovascular disease " explains how 43% of

heart patients are at risk of dying (sudden death) from magnesium

deficiency:

 

" below normal muscle magnesium levels have been found in 43 percent of

congestive heart failure patients receiving diuretics.

 

Magnesium is important for maintenance of cell potassium . . . an

increased risk of

sudden death demands that potassium and magnesium deficiencies be

treated promptly and that repletion of both electrolytes be considered " .

[emphasis added]

 

They said " demands. " Right on! Oops, just as I was about to say that

it's nice to see scientists with the guts to say it straight, they wimp

out and use the word " considered. "

 

Hey guys, get real -- it's death or magnesium. What's to consider?

 

 

" Introduction: magnesium -- coming of age " discusses how the patients

serum magnesium level can be misleading. Do the research scientists have

to hit doctors over the head with sledgehammers? Every heart patient

with sound kidneys should be taking magnesium supplements:

 

" Clinical and research evidence continues to accumulate that magnesium

deficiency likewise contributes to triggering ventricular ectopic

activity and sudden cardiac death ... magnesium depletion can coexist

with a low-normal to normal serum magnesium level ... The most frequent

causes of magnesium depletion in cardiovascular medicine are diuretic

drugs " (22-NA).

 

So, obviously, I gave my mother magnesium supplements and (SURPRISE,

SURPRISE) her potassium level went up and the problem was solved.

 

This has over a decade of documentation in the medical literature. Why

is magnesium STILL underutilized? If I were not self-educated, my mother

probably would not have survived. In addition to fixing her potassium

problem, the magnesium supplements also made my mother feel better --

which is not too surprising since magnesium also improves left

ventricular function and exercise tolerance (2.

 

Fortunately, this experience changed her attitude about pill taking and

supplements and she asked me what else she should take. I showed her TWO

 

DECADES of research in medical journals about supplements that are

extremely safe and effective for her heart problems. Based on the

medical literature, in addition to her prescription drugs, she began

taking Coenzyme Q10, Carnitine, Taurine, etc. (I will discuss these

supplements in a separate post.)

 

Before this she was in the emergency room several times a year.

 

Since the addition of the supplements more than FIVE YEARS AGO, she has

never had to go to the emergency room.

 

 

 

The Turf War

Despite this irrational reluctance to tell people to take supplements,

the medical industry routinely prescribes drugs that increase magnesium

and potassium levels.

 

For example, AFTER you develop deficiency-related

heart problems, they are likely to prescribe drugs like Captopril, which

increases intracellular magnesium and potassium (29).

 

It is well known that ACE inhibitors " have an important magnesium

conserving action "

(31). In fact, the improvement in insulin sensitivity caused by ACE

inhibitor drugs is related to their ability to increase magnesium levels

and improve the calcium/magnesium ratio (32).

 

Magnesium supplements have been recommended as an adjunct to

prescription calcium channel blockers in treating hypertensive patients

(30).

 

However, from what I have seen with my mother, all this research doesn't

seem to have much effect on what doctors tell their patients.

 

This is ridiculous! My mother has congestive heart failure and NOT ONE

DOCTOR HAS TOLD HER TO TAKE MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTS despite the fact that

research shows that " patients with a low serum magnesium concentration

had a significantly worse prognosis during long-term follow-up (45%

versus 71% 1 year survival, p less than 0.05) " (33).

 

This sort of insanity is the reason why I study medicine. There really

seems to be no alternative. It's funny, musicians are generally not very

reliable, but it's not all that difficult to find a musician that can

play ALL styles of music. Why are doctors not equally versatile?

 

This reluctance to use (or ignorance of) alternative medicine is most

baffling. I keep hearing people say that the situation is improving, but

I don't see it.

 

My mother has seen quite a few doctors, but they routinely neglect to

tell her that she should take magnesium, coenzyme

Q10, carnitine, taurine, etc.

 

Since I simply cannot understand this

situation, the best that I can do is post referenced information and

make it easy for people to get copies of the medical studies. Hopefully,

if enough people go to their doctors waving a bunch of medical studies,

things will HAVE to change.

 

Written

Aug 2000

Last Update

Aug 2000

 

Why didn't you tell me about magnesium,

coenzyme Q10, carnitine, and taurine?

 

There is a ton of research showing that these nutrients are safe and

that they can improve the QUALITY and the LENGTH of life of people with

heart failure.

 

There is no rational medical reason why so many doctors

do not tell their patients about them. I would really like to hear from

medical students and doctors who think they have some insight into this.

Send me an e-mail.

 

There seems to be an irrational opposition to acknowledging the fact

that the scientific data shows that -- no matter how good your diet is

-- you cannot achieve optimum nutrition (i.e., optimum disease

prevention/treatment) without taking supplements.

 

One of the most knowledgeable people in alternative medicine, Brian

Leibovitz, has written about this situation:

 

" I have observed an incredible resistance to the " Journal of Optimal

Nutrition " (JON) at the very top of the academic community. Both the

" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition " and the " Journal of Nutrition "

refused to run my " calls for papers " notice . . . several members of

JON's Editorial Board have related instances where they have been warned

NOT to publish positive results on supplemental nutrients, for by doing

so their careers would suffer.

 

The fear of having ones career ruined is,

in my estimation, one of the methods whereby the system has survived for

so many years . . . I believe that as nutritionists we can no longer

hide behind the veil of academia; we must stand up for what we know to

be the truth. " (24-BK).

 

 

 

Safety & Bioavailability

Although the focus of this post has been on magnesium, I want to take a

moment to discuss potassium.

 

I often read posts on the newsgroups from people who are worried about

getting too much potassium -- probably because the FDA restricts the

amount of potassium in supplements.

 

The fact of the matter is that most people do not get enough potassium

-- in fact, one study showed that " A 10-mmol increase in daily potassium

intake (approximately one serving of fresh fruit or vegetables) was

associated with a 40 percent reduction in risk [of stroke] " (23).

 

Lets put this in perspective: one medium sized banana contains 451 mg of

potassium, yet the FDA limits potassium supplements to 99 mg.

 

How many strokes could be prevented if multivitamins contained 500 mg of

potassium?

 

Interestingly, anyone can go to a grocery store and buy salt substitutes

and " low salt " foods that can easily add several GRAMS of potassium to

ones daily intake. People who take certain medications, or have kidney

problems or other conditions, should not use these products without

consulting their doctors.

 

However, for most people, this is a good way to consume adequate

potassium.

 

Serum magnesium balance is controlled by urinary magnesium excretion. In

the case of deficiency, the body tries to retain magnesium;

if you consume too much magnesium, the excess is excreted in the urine.

 

If your kidneys are functioning properly, there is little danger in any

rational supplementation program. Personally, I think the research

strongly suggests that supplements should contain approximately a 1:1

ratio (equal amounts) of calcium and magnesium, instead of the common

2:1 ratio.

 

A reasonable dose for most people is 500-1,000 mg of magnesium a day.

People with heart conditions or hypertension (who are working with a

doctor) might take up to 2,000 mg a day.

 

Written

Aug 2000

Last Update

Aug 2000

Most multivitamins contain magnesium oxide, which is not well absorbed.

The supplement manufacturers use magnesium oxide because they can list

big numbers (see the green box) without telling people to take a lot of

pills.

 

People want big numbers and very few pills to take. Well . . . they get

it, but they aren't told that they will absorb VERY little of the

elemental magnesium in magnesium oxide.

 

If you really want to improve your magnesium status, you need a form of

magnesium that is highly

bioavailable (e.g., aspartate, malate, citrate) For example, magnesium

oxide is only one-tenth as bioavailable as magnesium aspartate (9-BK).

 

Magnesium oxide contains 60.3 % elemental magnesium. Thus, if a

supplement maker puts 500 mg of magnesium oxide in a product, the labels

will read:

 

Magnesium . . . 301 mg (from magnesium oxide).

Magnesium citrate contains 16.2% elemental magnesium. Thus, if a

supplement maker puts 500 mg of magnesium citrate in a product, the

labels will read:

 

Magnesium . . . 81 mg (from magnesium citrate).

 

 

Many people think that a good diet and one multivitamin pill a day is

all they need. However, when you look at what is actually assimilated,

you can see that it is not even possible to fit sufficient magnesium in

a single pill.

 

That should tell you something about the quality of most multivitamins.

However, we cannot lay all the blame on the supplement companies: how

many people would buy a multivitamin that said " take ten capsules with

each meal " on the label?

 

Unfortunately, no matter how good ones diet is, optimum nutrition

involves taking a LOT of pills. There's just no way around it. Durk

Pearson and Sandy Shaw were candid about this reality:

 

" Get your vitamins and minerals from a bottle, rather than relying on

diet. It is difficult to get large amounts of vitamins in even the best

of unsupplemented diets. For example, you are unlikely to be getting as

much as 25 I.U. of vitamin E from your diet, even if you are devoted to

unprocessed whole-grain foods " (34-BK).

 

It is comforting to think that mother nature wants to provide us with

everything we need to live long and healthy lives. However, a huge

amount of scientific evidence documents the fact that optimum disease

prevention requires MANY TIMES the level of nutrients found in food --

even if it were grown under ideal conditions.

 

The Darwinian view is probably closer to reality: we are designed to

reproduce and die. Modern man lives longer because of improved

sanitation and medicine, but our health gives out because the nutrient

content of food is not designed for much more than the fulfillment of

our purpose -- to reproduce and die.

 

Personally, I have other plans. Taking a lot of pills costs money, but

it's cheaper than a heart attack or a stroke. Taking a lot of pills is a

hassle, but it's one hell of a lot safer than playing the magnesium

lottery.

 

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_________________

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mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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