Positive Health Online

Abstract

DINICOLANTONIO and COLLEAGUES, 1.Department of Preventive Cardiology, Saint Lukes Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, USA; 2. Department of Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA jjdinicol@gmail.com review the role of magnesium in cardiovascular health.

Background

Magnesium plays an important role in cardiovascular health. It is instrumental for the proper maintenance of cellular membrane potential, functioning of the mitochondria and plays a key role in the body’s antioxidative pathways.

Methodology

As a result, magnesium deficiency can lead to serious morbidity and mortality, and has been implicated in multiple cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmia, atherosclerosis, dyslipidaemia and diabetes.

Results

Unfortunately, the western diet is often low in magnesium due to the refining and processing of foods, and hypomagnesaemia is often underdiagnosed in hospitalised patients. Studies have suggested that prompt diagnosis and timely supplementation of magnesium may be beneficial in patients with certain cardiac conditions.

Conclusion

However, more prospective, randomized controlled trials are needed to be able to further elucidate the value of magnesium as a therapy to prevent or reverse some of the aforementioned cardiovascular conditions.

References

DiNicolantonio JJ,1 Liu J,2 O’Keefe JH.1 Magnesium for the prevention and treatment of  cardiovascular disease. Open  Heart  5 :e000775. doi:10.1136/ openhrt-2018-000775. 2018. https://openheart.bmj.com/content/openhrt/5/2/e000775.full.pdf