Magnesium, the fourth most common mineral in the human body, helps primary nerve functions, helps regulate heartbeat, contributes to strong bones and helps regulate blood sugar. Every organ -- but especially the heart, muscles and kidneys -- relies on magnesium to function properly. Peripheral artery disease, sometimes called PAD, affects as many as 8 million Americans, the American Heart Association reports. Magnesium supplementation may help improve symptoms of peripheral artery disease or prevent complications from occurring. Do not take magnesium supplements without first talking to your primary care doctor.
Symptoms
Peripheral artery disease occurs when arteries in the lower extremities become clogged with plaque, reducing blood flow. Peripheral artery disease often affects people with heart disease, whose arteries to the heart are also blocked with plaque. Symptoms of PAD include cramping and pain or tiredness in the legs when walking, called intermittent claudication. The skin on the legs may develop sores or ulcers from poor blood flow.
Magnesium deficiency can cause numbness and tingling in extremities, muscle spasms and weakness, and restless leg syndrome, the feeling that you have to keep moving your legs. These are not symptoms of peripheral artery disease.
Connection
Magnesium deficiency does not cause atherosclerosis, which leads to peripheral artery disease. However, giving magnesium to people with cardiovascular diseases may improve blood flow through damaged blood vessels by increasing vasodilation, the ability of blood vessels to widen to allow more blood flow through them, the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University says.
Supplementation
The normal recommended dietary intake of magnesium is 420 mg for men and 320 mg for women. If you have peripheral artery disease, discuss the recommended dosage with your medical practitioner, who may adjust the dose for your particular needs.
Benefits
One study reported by the Linus Pauling Institute showed a 12 percent increase in blood flow when people with narrowed blood vessels take magnesium supplements. Another study showed a 35 percent decrease in clot formation in people with existing cardiovascular disease who took magnesium in addition to low-dose aspirin. An article published in the American Heart Association magazine "Stroke" found that people with atherosclerosis and magnesium deficiency had an increased risk of stroke. Several studies have found that magnesium supplements increased exercise tolerance in people with stable heart disease.
Risks
People with heart or kidney disease and children should take magnesium only under a doctor's supervision. Because magnesium and calcium compete for absorption into cells, taking magnesium can lower calcium levels, the University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC, warns.
