Summary of Magnesium Seminar Jan. 9, 1995
Prof. Ragnar Rylander of Goteborg University, Sweden, was the
lead speaker at a seminar on magnesium in Emeryville, Ca., on
Jan. 9, 1995. Prof. Rylander is the author of Magnesium And
Calcium In Drinking Water And Cardiovascular Mortality, and has
written many other papers on magnesium and public health. Prof.
Rylander is a consultant to the Swedish government concerning the
health impacts of magnesium deficiency and public health
policy.
Prof. Rylander has kindly given me permission to summarize my
notes on his talk for distribution on the Internet. Prof.
Rylander had to catch a plane, so he has not reviewed these
notes, and any errors are mine alone. -- Paul Mason
Prof. Rylander began by noting that there is an abundance of
literature on the health impacts of hard water, indicating that
hard water is healthier than soft water.
Prof. Rylander noted that serum Mg levels have been a poor
indicator of intra-cellular Mg levels, and it is the
intra-cellular levels that really count. At the moment there is
no good indicator of intra-cellular Mg levels.
Mg is involved in 300 enzymes, which gives some indication of
its importance.
Intake of Mg is not the same as Uptake. When Mg is ingested
with fatty foods, it turns to Mg soaps, and passes through
without doing much good; perhaps only 1% is then utilized by the
body. Calcium also reduces the body's uptake of Mg.
Mg uptake is increased by protein, sodium, and phosphorus.
Mg deficiency has many clinical symptoms. In muscles the
symptoms include weakness, tremor, convulsions, ataxia,
nystagmus. In the central nervous system Mg deficiency causes
apatia. Mg deficiency in the heart muscle causes tachycardia,
fibrillation, arterial hypotension, atherosclerosis, and sudden
death. And in the metabolism Mg deficiency causes sensitivity to
digitalis and hypocalcemia.
There is an extremely high plausibility of a causal connection
between Mg deficiency and heart disease.
Studies in Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden all noted that
when the Mg content of drinking water exceeds 10-15 mg/L, the
rate of mortality falls in comparison to neighboring communities
having lower Mg in drinking water.
Some problems presented by Mg are:
1. Why is Mg in water so critical compared to Mg in food? 2.
Why is the Mg relation (mortality) weaker for females than for
males? 3. Does Mg protect only people genetically susceptible
to Mg deficiency, or is everyone protected? 4. More
intervention studies need to be done. The only big one so far
for dietary Mg was Dr. R. B. Singh's in Moradabad, India, which
for 10 years gave one group 1,142 mg/day while the control
group got 418 mg/day. The higher-intake group had a much lower
rate of death. Effect Of Dietary Magnesium Supplementation In
The Prevention Of Coronary Heart Disease And Sudden Cardiac
Death. RB Singh, Magnesium and Trace Elements, 1990;9:143-151.
The data supporting the importance of Mg in preventing heart
disease is "quite convincing".
The Mg deficiency problem is as important as the smoking
problem.
The case for the Mg deficiency problem is more solid than the
case for air pollution as a health problem.
As a public health problem, Mg deficiency should have a "high
priority".
Many Thanks to Prof. Rylander for his informative
presentation, which may be a first step toward solving the Mg
deficiency problem in California.
Paul Mason
This page was first uploaded to The Magnesium Web Site on
September 30, 1995
http://www.mgwater.com/
Healthy Water
Association--USA