| Magnesium plays
a vital role in the storage and utilization of energy. Although magnesium
is ubiquitous in food sources, especially in dark green leafy vegetables,
magnesium deficiency continues to be common, affecting up to 10% of
seemingly healthy adults and up to 65% of patients in the intensive
care setting.1 Moreover, a new study strongly correlates high magnesium
intake with a reduced risk of developing type II diabetes.2
Of those with type II diabetes, approximately 39% suffer from magnesium
deficiency.3,4 This reduces insulin sensitivity, thereby altering
glucose homeostasis. Furthermore, magnesium deficiency accelerates
the complications of diabetes, including retinopathy, thrombosis,
and hypertension.
This deficiency generally is not due to inadequate dietary intake,
but instead to excessive gastrointestinal losses (from malabsorption,
diarrhea, or bowel resection) or renal losses (for example, hypercalcemia,
alcohol abuse, or the use of diuretics, chemotherapeutic agents, or
antibiotics). Magnesium deficiency also occurs as a metabolic derangement
of both thyroid and parathyroid disorders, and most often is a symptom
of an underlying disease.
In research published in the journal Diabetes Care, low magnesium
intake in women was tied to an increased risk of developing
diabetes, particularly in those who are overweight.2 Women with the highest
magnesium intake (433 mg/day) were up to 22% less likely to develop diabetes
than those with the lowest intake (255 mg/day).
Although people with low-normal or even abnormally low levels of
magnesium may be asymptomatic, the classic symptoms of
magnesium deficiency are neuromuscular hyperirritability and
cardiac arrhythmias. Magnesium status can be easily determined by a blood
test or magnesium tolerance test. For those who are asymptomatic or mildly
symptomatic, oral replacement with magnesium oxide (1-2 grams daily in
divided doses) is recommended. —Dean S. Cunningham, MD, PhD
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