Contents

Page 1
A bunch of scary studies.
Page 2
Big brother to the rescue (sort of).
Dieters, athletes, and ECA.
Page 3
Diuretics and magnesium.
Page 4
The turf war.
Page 5
Safety & bioavailability.

Update: My mother has finally found a doctor that understands and appreciates alternative medicine!

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

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).

   
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TOC

1.) Durlach J, Bara M, Guiet-Bara A "Magnesium level in drinking water and cardiovascular risk factor: a hypothesis" Magnesium 1985, Vol 4 (1), Pg 5-15. PMID: 0004033205.

2.) Marier JR and Neri LC "Quantifying the role of magnesium in the interrelationship between human mortality/morbidity and water hardness" Magnesium 1985, Vol 4 (2-3), Pg 53-9. PMID: 0004046646.

3.) Marx A and Neutra RR "Magnesium in drinking water and ischemic heart disease" Epidemiol Rev 1997, Vol 19 (2), Pg 258-72. PMID: 0009494787.

4.) Rubenowitz E, Axelsson G, Rylander R "Magnesium in drinking water and death from acute myocardial infarction" Am J Epidemiol 1996, Vol 143 (5), Pg 456-62. PMID: 0008610660.

5.) Yang CY "Calcium and magnesium in drinking water and risk of death from cerebrovascular disease" Stroke 1998, Vol 29 (2), Pg 411-4. PMID: 0009472882.

6.) Yang CY and Chiu HF "Calcium and magnesium in drinking water and the risk of death from hypertension" Am J Hypertens 1999, Vol 12 (9 Pt 1), Pg 894-9. PMID: 0010509547.

7.) Yang CY, Chiu HF, Cheng MF, Tsai SS, Hung CF, Lin MC "Esophageal cancer mortality and total hardness levels in Taiwan's drinking water" Environ Res 1999, Vol 81 (4), Pg 302-8. PMID: 0010581108.

8.) Yang CY, Chiu HF, Cheng MF, Tsai SS, Hung CF, Tseng YT "Magnesium in drinking water and the risk of death from diabetes mellitus" Magnes Res 1999, Vol 12 (2), Pg 131-7. PMID: 0010423708.

9-BK.) Dr. Michael Colgan "Optimum Sports Nutrition: Your Competitive Edge" New York: Advanced Research Press 1993, ISBN: 0962484059.

10.) Joborn H, Akerstrom G, Ljunghall S "Effects of exogenous catecholamines and exercise on plasma magnesium concentrations" Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 1985, Vol 23 (3), Pg 219-26. PMID: 0004075536.

11.) Kynast-Gales SA and Massey LK "Effect of caffeine on circadian excretion of urinary calcium and magnesium" J Am Coll Nutr 1994, Vol 13 (5), Pg 467-72. PMID: 0007836625.

12.) Altura BM and Altura BT "New perspectives on the role of magnesium in the pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system. I. Clinical aspects" Magnesium 1985, Vol 4 (5-6), Pg 226-44. PMID: 0003914580.

13.) Ma J, Folsom AR, Melnick SL, Eckfeldt JH, Sharrett AR, Nabulsi AA, Hutchinson RG, Metcalf PA "Associations of serum and dietary magnesium with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, insulin, and carotid arterial wall thickness: the ARIC study. Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study" J Clin Epidemiol 1995, Vol 48 (7), Pg 927-40. PMID: 0007782801.

14.) Paolisso G and Barbagallo M "Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and insulin resistance: the role of intracellular magnesium" Am J Hypertens 1997, Vol 10 (3), Pg 346-55. PMID: 0009056694.

15.) Altura BM and Altura BT "Cardiovascular risk factors and magnesium: relationships to atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease and hypertension" Magnes Trace Elem 1991-1992, Vol 10 (2-4), Pg 182-92. PMID: 0001844551.

16.) Abraham AS "Potassium and magnesium status in ischaemic heart disease" Magnes Res 1988, Vol 1 (1-2), Pg 53-7. PMID: 0003079203.

17.) Gettes LS "Electrolyte abnormalities underlying lethal and ventricular arrhythmias" Circulation 1992, Vol 85 (1 Suppl), Pg I70-6. PMID: 0001728508.

18-NA.) Dawson R Jr, Tang E, Shih D, Hern H, Hu M, Baker D, Eppler B "Taurine inhibition of iron-stimulated catecholamine oxidation" Adv Exp Med Biol 1998, Vol 442 Pg 155-62. PMID: 0009635027.

19.) Whang R, Whang DD, Ryan MP "Refractory potassium repletion. A consequence of magnesium deficiency" Arch Intern Med 1992, Vol 152 (1), Pg 40-5. PMID: 0001728927.

20.) Whyte KF, Addis GJ, Whitesmith R, Reid JL "Adrenergic control of plasma magnesium in man" Clin Sci 1987, Vol 72 (1), Pg 135-8. PMID: 0003542342.

21.) Dyckner T and Wester PO "Potassium/magnesium depletion in patients with cardiovascular disease" Am J Med 1987, Vol 82 (3A), Pg 11-7. PMID: 0003565422.

22-NA.) Lauler DP "Magnesium--coming of age" Am J Cardiol 1989, Vol 63 (14), Pg 1g-3g. PMID: 0002705371.

23.) Khaw KT and Barrett-Connor E "Dietary potassium and stroke-associated mortality. A 12-year prospective population study" N Engl J Med 1987, Vol 316 (5), Pg 235-40. PMID: 0003796701.

24-BK.) Leibovitz, B "Nutrition: At the Crossroads" in Morgenthaler, J and Fowkes, S "Stop the FDA: Save Your Health Freedom" Health Freedom Publications 1992, ISBN 0-9627418-8-4.

25.) Deuster PA, Dolev E, Kyle SB, Anderson RA, Schoomaker EB "Magnesium homeostasis during high-intensity anaerobic exercise in men" J Appl Physiol 1987, Vol 62 (2), Pg 545-50. PMID: 0003558215.

26.) Keen CL, Lowney P, Gershwin ME, Hurley LS, Stern JS "Dietary magnesium intake influences exercise capacity and hematologic parameters in rats" Metabolism 1987, Vol 36 (8), Pg 788-93. PMID: 0003600291.

27.) Stendig-Lindberg G, Shapiro Y, Epstein Y, Galun E, Schonberger E, Graff E, Wacker WE "Changes in serum magnesium concentration after strenuous exercise" J Am Coll Nutr 1987, Vol 6 (1), Pg 35-40. PMID: 0003453693.

28.) Geiss KR, Stergiou N, Jester, Neuenfeld HU, Jester HG "Effects of magnesium orotate on exercise tolerance in patients with coronary heart disease" Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 1998, Vol 12 Suppl 2 Pg 153-6. PMID: 0009794089.

29.) O'Keeffe S, Grimes H, Finn J, McMurrough P, Daly K "Effect of captopril therapy on lymphocyte potassium and magnesium concentrations in patients with congestive heart failure" Cardiology 1992, Vol 80 (2), Pg 100-5. PMID: 0001611628.

30.) Touyz RM "Magnesium supplementation as an adjuvant to synthetic calcium channel antagonists in the treatment of hypertension" Med Hypotheses 1991, Vol 36 (2), Pg 140-1. PMID: 0001664038.

31.) Stevenson RN, Keywood C, Amadi AA, Davies JR, Patterson DL "Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and magnesium conservation in patients with congestive cardiac failure" Br Heart J 1991, Vol 66 (1), Pg 19-21. PMID: 0001854570.

32.) Haenni A, Berglund L, Reneland R, Anderssson PE, Lind L, Lithell H "The alterations in insulin sensitivity during angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor treatment are related to changes in the calcium/magnesium balance" Am J Hypertens 1997, Vol 10 (2), Pg 145-51. PMID: 0009037321.

33.) Gottlieb SS, Baruch L, Kukin ML, Bernstein JL, Fisher ML, Packer M "Prognostic importance of the serum magnesium concentration in patients with congestive heart failure" J Am Coll Cardiol 1990, Vol 16 (4), Pg 827-31. PMID: 0002212365.

34-BK.) Pearson, D and Shaw, S "Life Extension : A Practical Scientific Approach" Warner Books 1987, ISBN 0446387355.