Since we're on the very important magnesium topic, thought I'd post this as useful information. First is a fairly recent study by well-known magnesium researcher, Andrea Rosanoff, PhD, co-author and research associate of the late Mildred S. Seelig, MD, MPH and the book,
The Magnesium Factor: How One Simple Nutrient Can Prevent, Treat, and Reverse High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Other Chronic Conditions (2003)
Following that is a study review Titled
Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium which states why routine blood tests do not reflect body stores of magnesium which emphasizes the reason why routine tests are not reliable for magnesium levels.
Abstract Title:
Suboptimal magnesium status in the United States: are the health consequences underestimated?
Source: Nutr Rev. 2012 Mar ;70(3):153-64. Epub 2012 Feb 15. PMID: 22364157
Abstract Author(s): Andrea Rosanoff, Connie M Weaver, Robert K RudeCenter for Magnesium Education&Research, Pahoa, HI 96778, USA.
Study Type : Human Study
Abstract:
In comparison with calcium, magnesium is an"orphan nutrient" that has been studied considerably less heavily. Low magnesium intakes and blood levels have been associated with type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, elevated C-reactive protein, hypertension, atherosclerotic vascular disease, sudden cardiac death, osteoporosis, migraine headache, asthma and colon cancer. Almost half (48%) of the US population consumed less than the required amount of magnesium from food in 2005-2006, and the figure was down from 56% in 2001-2002. Surveys conducted over 30 years indicate rising calcium-to-magnesium food-intake ratios among adults and the elderly in the United States, excluding intake from supplements, which favor calcium over magnesium. The prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes in the United States increased sharply between 1994 and 2001 as the ratio of calcium-to-magnesium intake from food rose from<3.0 to>3.0.
Dietary Reference Intakes determined by balance studies may be misleading if subjects have chronic latent magnesium deficiency but are assumed to be healthy. Cellular magnesium deficit, perhaps involving TRPM6/7 channels, elicits calcium-activated inflammatory cascades independent of injury or pathogens.
Refining the magnesium requirements and understanding how low magnesium status and rising calcium-to-magnesium ratios influence the incidence of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis, and
other inflammation-related disorders are research priorities.
Pubmed-Cite:
Andrea Rosanoff, Connie M Weaver, Robert K Rude. Suboptimal magnesium status in the United States: are the health consequences underestimated? Nutr Rev. 2012 Mar ;70(3):153-64. Epub 2012 Feb 15. PMID: 22364157
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Abstract Title:
Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium.
Abstract Source: J Neural Transm. 2012 May ;119(5):575-9. Epub 2012 Mar 18. PMID: 22426836
Abstract Author(s): Alexander Mauskop, Jasmine Varughese
Article Affiliation: New York Headache Center, 30 East 76 Street, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Abstract:
Magnesium, the second most abundant intracellular cation, is essential in many intracellular processes and appears to play an important role in migraine pathogenesis.
Routine blood tests do not reflect true body magnesium stores since<2% is in the measurable, extracellular space, 67% is in the bone and 31% is located intracellularly. Lack of magnesium may promote cortical spreading depression, hyperaggregation of platelets, affect serotonin receptor function, and influence synthesis and release of a variety of neurotransmitters.
Migraine sufferers may develop magnesium deficiency due to genetic inability to absorb magnesium, inherited renal magnesium wasting, excretion of excessive amounts of magnesium due to stress, low nutritional intake, and several other reasons. There is strong evidence that magnesium deficiency is much more prevalent in migraine sufferers than in healthy controls.
Double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have produced mixed results, most likely because both magnesium deficient and non-deficient patients were included in these trials. This is akin to giving cyanocobalamin in a blinded fashion to a group of people with peripheral neuropathy without regard to their cyanocobalamin levels.
Both oral and intravenous magnesium are widely available, extremely safe, very inexpensive and for patients who are magnesium deficient can be highly effective. Considering these features of magnesium, the fact that magnesium deficiency may be present in up to half of migraine patients, and that routine blood tests are not indicative of magnesium status, empiric treatment with at least oral magnesium is warranted in all migraine sufferers.
Jackie
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2017 02:03PM by Jackie.