Magnesium and Hypertension: Stopping this Stealth Killer in its Tracks

[Guest guest]

Really a good one. Will you please inform the daily requirement of Mg and

suggested sources to maintain a healthy blood presuure.

 

Shivdas

 

--- On Tue, 14/4/09, bestsurprise2002 <bestsurprise2002

wrote:

 

 

bestsurprise2002 <bestsurprise2002

<< >> Magnesium and Hypertension: Stopping

this Stealth Killer in its Tracks

MCS-Canada

Tuesday, 14 April, 2009, 11:55 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnesium and Hypertension: Stopping this Stealth Killer in its Tracks

_http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ article_print. aspx?articleID= 574_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ article_print. aspx?articleID= 574)

 

It's sneaky and deadly. Impossible to feel - only detectable through

testing. One out of three Americans suffer from it. And it is a major factor in

heart disease, the disease that kills more men and women in the United

States than anything else.

 

What is this elusive threat? Hypertension or _high blood pressure_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ high_blood_ pressure. html) .

 

We need blood pressure to help us get blood around our bodies. It's like

the water pressure in our house's plumbing. Without it, blood flow slows to

a trickle. But blood pressure above the healthy zones of 100-140 over 60-90

means your plumbing is not working right. It forces your heart to work

harder, putting you at risk for a heart attack. It can also indicate a build

up of plaque in your arteries, the first stage of a clot.

 

And while pharmaceutical companies have developed several expensive

medications for reducing blood pressure – diuretics, calcium channel blockers,

ACE inhibitors, vasodilators and anti-adrenergic drugs - there is a more

simple solution:

 

Magnesium.

The Cardiologist' s New Best Friend

In her book, The Magnesium Miracle, Carolyn Dean notes that a growing

number of internists and cardiologists are turning to magnesium before these

other drugs. " They call magnesium the ideal drug: it is safe, cheap, and

simple to use, with a wide therapeutic range, a short half-life and little or

no tendency toward drug interaction. " _1_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ magnesium- hypertension- solution.

html#1)

 

And Barbara Levine, Ph D., Associate Professor of Nutrition and Medicine

at Weil Cornell Medical College, concurs. In her Magnesium Newsletter, Levine

points to 4 significant studies – Harvard's study of 40,000 nurses and

30,000 male health professionals, the Honolulu Heart Study, the

Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, and the Dietary Approaches to

Stop

Hypertension (DASH) diet trial. All of them showed low magnesium levels

correlate directly with a high risk for hypertension and heart disease.

Similarly, higher intake of magnesium means lower blood pressure and lower risk

for

cardiovascular disease._2_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ magnesium- hypertension- solution.

html#2)

Keeping Your Cardiovascular System Strong and Supple

Levine explains that magnesium's role in keeping our heart, blood vessels

and blood pressure healthy is extensive and complex. " It's unbelievable, "

says Levine alluding to the number of ways magnesium works as an important

cofactor in enzyme activities contributing to cardiovascular health._3_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ magnesium- hypertension- solution.

html#3)

 

In an _earlier newsletter_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ fm-magnesium- malic-acid. html) , we

discussed how magnesium acts as a critical

enzymatic co-factor in the production of ATP, your body's energy currency.

Without access to this energy, muscles, like the heart, contract but do not

relax

or expand adequately. This energy also allows the smooth muscle cells

around blood vessels to relax (dilate), making them larger and reducing blood

pressure. Without magnesium, these muscles are unable to relax fully, your

blood vessels stay tightly constricted, your heart keeps contracting and

your blood pressure rises.

 

But magnesium's role in arterial health doesn't stop there.

 

Arteries are made up of several layers. The second layer is made up of a

very thin connective tissue that contains the protein elastin, giving

arteries their elasticity. Magnesium is a cofactor in the production of elastin.

In fact, one of the early signs of magnesium deficiency is the degeneration

of arterial elastin.

 

Closer to the heart, this becomes even more critical. Because the heart is

constantly contracting and expanding, the coronary arteries have to be

even more flexible to stretch and adjust accordingly. _4_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ magnesium- hypertension- solution.

html#4)

An Alternative To Statins

Magnesium also plays a role in keeping your arteries clear, by reducing

cholesterol and limiting calcification of plaques.

 

The enzyme HMG-CoA reductase helps produce cholesterol. Statin drugs block

this enzyme and cholesterol production. But blocking this enzyme

completely can cause a host of problems – depleting your body of the critical

Co-enzyme Q10 and your body's repair putty, cholesterol itself. Unlike statins,

magnesium slows down this enzyme, working naturally to limit your body's

production of cholesterol but not destroying the process completely._ 5_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ magnesium- hypertension- solution.

html#5)

The Dance of Ions

Magnesium's ability to limit the hardening of plaque taps into its

activity as an electrically charged element called an ion. As Levine points out,

magnesium balances out other charged ions – calcium, potassium and sodium –

in an ongoing dance between these charged atoms. These ions move through

the cell membranes, in and out of the blood stream, in response to the

movement and presence of each other, influenced by the electrical charge they

carry.

 

When inflammation damages an artery, white blood cells and cholesterol,

your body's repair team, collect nearby, ready to repair the damage. But if

there is too much calcium in the blood it can precipitate. It comes out of

its dissolved state into a solid state and hardens this repair job. This

calcification turns the mix of cholesterol and white blood cells in to an

easily breakable, life-threatening plaque. Magnesium's presence limits the

amount of calcium in the blood stream and, consequently, the amount that can

precipitate.

 

Magnesium is also essential for the movement of potassium, another

positively charged ion that plays a role in muscle contraction. Potassium also

seems to play a significant role in controlling hypertension.

 

Finally, Levine points out that magnesium serves as " natures'

physiological calcium channel blockers. " Calcium in the cardiac cells stimulates

the

heart to contract. When calcium levels are too high, the heart has a tendency

to contract more. Magnesium works as natural counterbalance to calcium,

reducing its effect on the heart's activity. And when the heart is pumping

less, the blood pressure drops as well._6_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ magnesium- hypertension- solution.

html#6)

Swap Drugs for Magnesium When It Comes To Hypertension

Beyond hypertension, magnesium helps prevent angina, heart attacks and,

according to Levine, it has become a standard prescription after heart

surgery to prevent arrhythmias.

 

However, despite the growing interest in this simple but wonderful

element, magnesium has yet to really take its proper place in center stage as a

heart protector. With only .03% in the blood stream (the rest in the skeleton

or cells) a magnesium deficiency is hard to test for. Levine hopes that

with the adoption of better testing methods, magnesium will gain more

attention._7_

(http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ articles/ magnesium- hypertension- solution.

html#7)

 

Until these tests become available, Levine and other health practitioners

in the know use symptoms and risk factors to decide whether to recommend

increased magnesium intake.

 

So don't let stealthy hypertension sneak up on you. Bypass the expensive

drugs, their side effects, and even bypass surgery. If you are concerned

about hypertension or heart disease, there's a simpler route. Get your

magnesium from nuts, leafy greens, whole grains, fish, fruit and a good

_magnesium

supplement_ (http://www.jigsawhe alth.com/ products. aspx) .

 

____________ _________ _________ ______

 

Cited Sources:

1. Dean C. The Magnesium Miracle. P. 97

2. Levine B. The Magnesium Newsletter, 2/02

3. Barbara Levine, personal interview 2/18/09

4. Dean, p. 102.

5. Rosanoff, A et al. Comparison of Mechanism and Functional Effects

of Magnesium and Statin Pharmaceuticals. Journal of the American College of

Nutrition; 2004; 23: 501s-505s.

6. Levine interview

7. Levine interview