The mineral electrolyte, magnesium, exists in the body in cellular form. Along with potassium and calcium, magnesium maintains a neutral electrical charge within the cells. Most organ functions and neuromuscular tissue depend heavily on magnesium. According to Mosby's Diagnostic and Laboratory Test Reference, a shortage of magnesium can irritate heart wall muscle and aggravate existing cardiac arrhythmias. A serious deficiency can cause delirium and convulsions. Symptomatic deficiencies receive treatment aimed at the causative condition. The causes of magnesium deficiency fall into three categories: nutrition related, medication related, illness related.
Nutrition-Related Causes
According to Dr. Mark Sircus AC., OMD in his book "Transdermal Magnesium," a study done in 2000 by the U.S. government found that 68 percent of Americans do not take in enough magnesium in their daily diets. Allergies, asthma, heart disease, muscle cramps and attention deficit disorder point a finger at magnesium shortage as the cause. According to algaecal.com, most of the problem lies in the American diet and its lack of magnesium-rich foods, such as dark green vegetables, peas, beans, nuts, seeds, halibut, scallops, oysters and tofu. People who live in areas where they have "hard" water drink magnesium-rich water every day. Americans have become a nation of overweight yet undernourished people. With the availability of foods that have little or no nutritional value, the essential vitamin and mineral-rich foods take a back seat in the diet.
Medication-Related Causes
Some diuretics, agents taken to move accumulated fluid out of the body, take the blame for lowered levels of magnesium. Specifically the loop diuretics and the thiazides have this effect. My-health-n-fitness.com, states that magnesium gets depleted with the large amounts of urine that flush out. A cancer medication, cisplatin, and an antibiotic, pentamidine, also remove magnesium via the urinary system. Additionally, drinking alcohol in large quantities causes a scarcity of magnesium in the body. Excessive amounts of fluoride will deplete this mineral, as well.
Illness-Related Causes
Certain conditions can cause malnourishment because they hinder absorption of nutrients. Examples of these malabsorption conditions include celiac disease, Crohn's disease, HIV/AIDS, lactase deficiency, scleroderma, Whipple disease, protein losing enteropathy and a kidney disease called hyperoxaluric calcium nephrolithiasis. Even diarrhea will deplete the body of minerals like magnesium. The tiny parathyroid glands that sit in front of the thyroid regulate calcium. Hypoparathyroidism, underactive parathyroids, affect calcium which in turn affects magnesium. In fact, anytime calcium, potassium or magnesium change in amount, it affects the other two as the body scrambles to restore the electrical balance between the three electrolytes. In chronic renal disease, magnesium's supply lowers, especially for those patients who take dialysis. The Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment website states that the diabetic person can suffer a condition called diabetic acidosis as a result of accidental overload of blood sugar in the wake of an insulin shortage. In trying to balance and regulate the disturbance, magnesium stores decline.
References
- AlgaeCal: Magnesium rich foods, 2010
- Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 49th. ed.; Stephen J. McPhee and Maxine A. Papadakis; 2010
- My Health-n-Fitness: Causes of Magnesium Deficiency and Treatment; 2010
- Mosby's Diagnostic and Laboratory Test Reference; Kathleen Deska Pagana, PhD, RN and Timothy James Pagana, MD; 2001
- "Transdermal Magnesium" Dr. Mark Sircus; 2010
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