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The Connection Between Diabetes Symptoms and Low Magnesium Levels

Jun 16, 2011 | By Tanya Louise Coad
The Connection Between Diabetes Symptoms and Low Magnesium Levels
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You may have heard of magnesium in the context of alternative treatments for diabetes. Researchers reporting in the April 2003 issue of "Diabetes Care" discuss the fact that many assume that there is a connection between magnesium levels and diabetes symptoms because diabetics are often magnesium deficient. Thus, many diabetics self-treat with magnesium. However it is very important that you consult with your doctor before considering magnesium supplements to treat symptoms.

Diabetes Symptoms

The National Institutes of Health describes metabolic syndrome as a cluster of symptoms including excess weight around the waist, high blood pressure and abnormal blood levels of triglycerides and cholesterol. According to researchers reporting in the March 2011 issue of "Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism," metabolic syndrome has become as closely associated with diabetes as high blood sugar and insulin resistance. The failure of insulin to remove sugar from the blood results in many of the problems associated with diabetes. The researchers further noted that magnesium supplementation is associated with alleviating many of the aforementioned symptoms.

Hypomagnesemia

Hypomagnesemia is the medical term for low serum levels of magnesium. Hypomagnesemia is different from magnesium deficiency which describes total body stores as being low, whereas hypomagnesemia is specific to serum levels. According to researchers reporting in the January 2007 issue of the "Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology," hypomagnesemia is present in 47.7 percent of type 2 diabetes patients and it's very possible to have normal body stores of magnesium and still have hypomagnesemia. So you definitely want to be looking at serum levels rather than body stores in the context of diabetes symptoms.

Magnesium and Blood Sugar

According to a study review published in the December 2010 issue of "Diabetes Care," many intervention trials involving magnesium supplementation in pre-diabetic and diabetic patients with hypomagnesemia successfully lowered blood sugar levels. However, the participants in these studies were middle-aged and older, and had low serum levels of magnesium. These researchers wondered if supplementation would protect healthy young Americans from future diabetes onset. They followed 4,497 subjects ages 18 to 30 years for 20 years and found that those with the highest levels of magnesium intake had the lowest incidence of diabetes. Specifically, magnesium was associated with keeping blood sugar in check.

Metabolic Syndrome

Researchers reporting in the June 2004 issue of "Diabetes & Metabolism" questioned if magnesium would improve metabolic syndrome in insulin resistant people. They enrolled 60 participants in a 12 week trial and randomly assigned them to receive either 2500 mg of magnesium per day or a placebo. At the end of the trial, the magnesium group both lowered their blood sugar and improved their metabolic syndrome symptoms. The magnesium group lowered their triglycerides and "bad," or LDL, cholesterol while raising their HDL, or "good," cholesterol. Low levels of magnesium were definitively associated with diabetes symptoms risk.

References

Article reviewed by Mia Paul Last updated on: Jun 16, 2011

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