Magnesium & Dialysis

According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body. Among the more than 300 biochemical reactions it supports, magnesium helps maintain proper nerve and muscle function, stabilize the heart rate, strengthen bones, regulate blood sugar levels, stabilize blood pressure and improve the immune system. Patients on dialysis should have their magnesium levels monitored frequently to ensure proper health and body functioning.

Dialysis

Dialysis is a medical procedure required by people with improperly functioning kidneys. Some people might only require dialysis temporarily, such as during a severe illness or disease. However, people with end-stage kidney failure often require permanent lifelong dialysis to ensure proper body functioning. During the dialysis procedure, excess water, salt and wastes are removed from the body. This process helps keep blood chemical levels balanced and blood pressure stabilized.

Magnesium & Dialysis

Since the kidneys are responsible for eliminating excess magnesium from the body, kidney failure can easily result in dangerously high levels of magnesium. However, the dialysis procedure should remove these excess levels of magnesium from the blood. In fact, dialysis occasionally removes too much magnesium from the body, resulting in patients becoming hypomagnesmic with dangerously low magnesium levels.

Magnesium Deficiency

If too much magnesium is removed from the body, a patient experiences a magnesium deficiency. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency include nausea, anorexia, vomiting, fatigue and muscle weakness. As the deficiency worsens, additional symptoms might include nerve tingling, muscle cramps, seizures, abnormal heart rates and spasms of the heart muscle or coronary arteries.

Magnesium Toxicity

If the dialysis procedure is not removing enough excess magnesium from the body, a state of magnesium toxicity can occur. Symptoms of magnesium toxicity include abdominal cramps, nausea, diarrhea, anorexia, muscle weakness, breathing difficulties, low blood pressure, irregular heart beat and alternations in mental status. It is important to note that magnesium toxicity generally does not occur from high dietary intake of magnesium. Instead, magnesium toxicity generally results from non-dietary sources of magnesium, such as laxatives, antacids or magnesium supplements.

Medical Tests

Patients on dialysis should undergo frequent tests to monitor magnesium levels in the blood. Magnesium levels are checked through a relatively simple blood test. Since magnesium is an electrolyte, your doctor might also check the other levels of electrolytes in your body, such as potassium, sodium, calcium and phosphorous.