Heartbeat irregularities, also called arrhythmias, are disorders caused by malfunctions in your heart's internal electrical control network. Under normal circumstances, the mineral magnesium helps your body maintain a normal heart rhythm. Doctors sometimes use supplemental doses of magnesium to help prevent heartbeat irregularities related to a type of heart disease called congestive heart failure, or CHF.
Heartbeat Irregularity Basics
The rhythm of your heartbeat is set by electrical signals generated inside a grouping of cells called the sinoatrial node, which sits in the upper right chamber of your heart. Normally, signals from this node cascade outward and downward at regular intervals and tell your heart's tissues when to contract and relax. In people with heartbeat irregularities, a malfunction develops somewhere along the signal pathways in the upper or lower heart and disrupts its ability to maintain a steady rhythm. While most irregularities are harmless, some changes in your heart rhythm can seriously degrade your health and/or kill you.
Magnesium Basics
Inside your body, magnesium is needed to carry electrically charged atoms, or ions, of minerals, such as calcium and potassium, back and forth across the membranes that guard the exteriors of your cells. In turn, these ions play a vital role in regulating electricity-based body functions that include muscle contraction, nerve signal transmission and the rhythm of your heartbeat. Most people don't get enough dietary magnesium to fully meet their bodies' requirements, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC. However, medically significant deficiencies of the mineral are rare. Supplemental forms of magnesium include magnesium gluconate, magnesium citrate and magnesium orotate.
Magnesium and CHF
People with CHF have hearts that are unable to pump enough blood to maintain proper blood flow. They can also experience abnormal accumulations of blood in various parts of the body, which, in turn, can trigger the onset of damaging fluid buildup in areas such as the liver, arms, legs, lungs and gastrointestinal tract. In addition, the presence of CHF raises your risks for the development of a heartbeat irregularity. To combat this possibility, your doctor may give you intravenous, or IV, doses of magnesium. This type of treatment can potentially reduce CHF-related symptoms and increase a CHF patient's life expectancy.
Considerations
When used in combination with other treatments, supplemental magnesium can also potentially reduce heartbeat irregularities that occur in the aftermath of a heart attack, the UMMC reports. However, use of magnesium may also potentially elevate your chances of experiencing another heart attack, dying suddenly or requiring heart bypass surgery. Typically, your doctor will assess your post-heart attack circumstances and determine whether or not magnesium supplementation is appropriate for you. Before you take any form of IV or oral magnesium for any heart-related condition, thoroughly discuss your heart health history with your doctor.
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