The interest in the influence of magnesium on the heart increases with reports of the growing shortage of valuable bioelements in the soil, and what goes in the food - its main source. Magnesium is a mineral that determines the rhythmic heartbeat and efficient cardiovascular system.The fact that magnesium protects the cardiovascular system, including such important organs as the heart and brain of many family doctors, has already noticed in their medical practice very long ago
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It has been documented, for example, that local areas where the main source of drinking water are deep-sea sources abundant with magnesium are statistically less likely to have cardiovascular diseases. This is confirmed by clinical trials conducted for nearly 20 years, where much attention is paid to compounds of magnesium deficiency with cardiovascular diseases - described, among others, in prestigious magazines, such as Circulation.
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. Deficiency in the soil of the element marked with the abbreviation Mg
Washing up magnesium from the soil is caused by acid rain, water contamination with chemicals and improper fertilization. Deficit and chemical contamination reduces the content of the element in the nutrient-absorbing plants - cereals, vegetables, fruits. If this is accompanied by disorders of absorption in the course of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract or excessive excretion, (as a result of using dehydrating agents); hormonal disorders or long-term stress - we are threatened by a high systemic deficit that may disrupt the work of the heart and blood circulation. This is evidenced by the high magnesium deficiency found in people with heart attack, long-term hypertension, or myocardial inflammatory process.
Why is magnesium important for blood circulation?.
The indispensability of magnesium for the circulatory system results from its intracellular regulatory role for smooth muscle activity of the arteries. As we know, the mineral strongly depends on the course of important physiological processes of the vascular system, in particular the ability to contract and relax the peripheral muscles of the arteries. The elastic response of these muscles to the great blood pressure delivered by the heart during contraction depends on the presence of magnesium and largely determines the effective flow of blood. If magnesium is lacking in the blood, there is an immediate inflow of calcium into the cells of the ring muscles, which causes their strong contraction - and, consequently, the narrowing of blood vessels and the increase in resistance to blood flow. [1,2]
Magnesium deficiency can cause hypertension and ... hypoxia of the heart.
Magnesium has a large share in regulating the inflow of calcium to the heart muscle cells. It is its antagonist and inhibits too large inflow of calcium. This prevents excessive muscle contractions of the circulatory arteries, also too strong contractions of the heart muscle and thus hypertension. Magnesium in the blood - equivalent to the physiological norm - effectively inhibits the excessive inflow of calcium to the cells of the heart muscle, similar to calcium channel blockers - strong drugs. Conversely, a deficiency of magnesium can cause contraction of the coronary vessels, which reduces their light and reduces the blood supply to the myocardium. Patients then complain of chest pain of a typical character and location as for coronary heart disease, although the cause is not atherosclerotic lesions in the vessels, but their reversible shrinkage after supplementation with magnesium. [1]
Magnesium supplementation lowers arterial hypertension
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Japanese researchers investigated the influence of multi-week magnesium supplementation on several dozen people with hypertension. It was found that the blood pressure group was significantly lower in the group receiving magnesium supplementation.At the same time, the higher the output pressure of the examined patients, the greater the effect of the supplement therapy was observed. [1,2]
Magnesium protects the arteries from atherosclerosis?
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This is for a reason. Magnesium favors arterial diastole - thus lowering blood pressure. And as you know, hypertension is the main enemy of the walls of the arteries - it weakens them and facilitates their destruction. In this way, oxygenating free radicals, in particular oxidized aggressive lipids and LDL cholesterol, aim at atherosclerosis. In a US study described in the prestigious journal Circulation (2000, 102), in a study of 50 patients with coronary artery disease, they administered magnesium or placebo for 6 months. In the group of patients receiving magnesium for half a year, there was a visible improvement in the function of the endothelium of the shoulder artery. It can therefore be said that supplementation with magnesium prevents some degree of cholesterol from accumulating in the blood vessels. [1,2]
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Mg protects against stroke ...
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Some researchers have revealed a relationship between long-term magnesium intake in the diet and the incidence of stroke. Based on an eight-year observation of over forty thousand men, it was found that constant magnesium supplementation significantly reduces the risk of stroke. This correlation is even stronger in people with hypertension compared to people with normal blood pressure, as documented in the Nurses' Health Study, covering 85,764 women. [3].
Symptoms of magnesium deficiency can manifest themselves not only in people suffering from heart disease, but also in healthy young people.
The most common symptom of high clinical magnesium deficiency is arrhythmias. Typical complaints of patients are then feelings of uneven and rapid heartbeats. This is because at the level of the myocardium, due to magnesium deficiency, there is electrical instability and secondary to arrhythmia. There are even reports of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias provoked only by magnesium deficiency alone. [1]
The disturbed mental silhouette of people with magnesium deficiency also needs to be emphasized
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These people have emotional disorders, anxiety and a tendency to depression. A classic team of all the above-mentioned Symptoms are Barlow syndrome, the basic component of which is mitral valve prolapse, detected by ultrasound examination in about 15% of the population. These symptoms (very annoying for the patient) disappear spontaneously after supplementing the magnesium deficiency. [1]
Let's remind what is the daily demand for magnesium.
The daily demand in healthy adults for this cation is 300-400 mg, and its correct conversion is dependent not only on the function of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys, but also on the activity of many hormones. The demand for a mineral grows if we suffer from malabsorption (eg diarrhea), hormonal disorders, long-term stress or using dehydrating agents. [2,3,6]
Literature
1. Magnesium energy element - dr n.med Henryk Dudek; ed. Pique Eneteia 1999
2. BIOPARTICATES, OR MICRO AND MACRO ELEMENTS; prof. dr hab. med. Andrzej Danysz wyd, LEKI.
3. Iso H, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, et al. Prospective study of calcium, potassium and magfnesium intake and risk of stroke in women. Stroke 1999, 30, 1772-9.
4. POCKET ATLAS PHYSIOLOGY; Stefan Silbernagl, Agamemnon Despopoulos, PW Lekarskie 1994.
5. VITAMINS, MINERAL INGREDIENTS, E-NUMBERS, U.Unger-Gobel, ed. MUZA SA, 1997
6. Small Encyclopedia of PWN, 2000.
