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Recovery from major depression with magnesium

Posted by alan2102 on October 13, 2007, at 16:17:04


snippet:

"One physician-viewer, having suffered from severe depression for
two decades, reported that he had found the above web page several
years earlier and totally dismissed it as being overly simplistic,
recounting that 'scientists are not so stupid as to have
overlooked magnesium'. In total desperation, he finally tried
magnesium treatment and it 'cured' his depression. Later, he
became verbally abusive with the writer because the page made it
seem too simple, and because of that, he had dismissed the idea as
preposterous and continued to suffer."

----------------------

full text:

http://www.sciencedirect.com

Medical Hypotheses

Volume 67, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 362-370

doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2006.01.047

Copyright c 2006 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment

George A. Eby, a, and Karen L. Ebya

aGeorge Eby Research, 14909-C Fitzhugh Road, Austin, TX 78736,
United States

Received 18 January 2006; accepted 20 January 2006. Available
online 20 March 2006.

SUMMARY

Major depression is a mood disorder characterized by a sense of
inadequacy, despondency, decreased activity, pessimism, anhedonia
and sadness where these symptoms severely disrupt and adversely
affect the person's life, sometimes to such an extent that suicide
is attempted or results. Antidepressant drugs are not always
effective and some have been accused of causing an increased
number of suicides particularly in young people. Magnesium
deficiency is well known to produce neuropathologies. Only 16% of
the magnesium found in whole wheat remains in refined flour, and
magnesium has been removed from most drinking water supplies,
setting a stage for human magnesium deficiency. Magnesium ions
regulate calcium ion flow in neuronal calcium channels, helping to
regulate neuronal nitric oxide production. In magnesium
deficiency, neuronal requirements for magnesium may not be met,
causing neuronal damage which could manifest as depression.
Magnesium treatment is hypothesized to be effective in treating
major depression resulting from intraneuronal magnesium deficits.
These magnesium ion neuronal deficits may be induced by stress
hormones, excessive dietary calcium as well as dietary
deficiencies of magnesium. Case histories are presented showing
rapid recovery (less than 7 days) from major depression using
125-300 mg of magnesium (as glycinate and taurinate) with each
meal and at bedtime. Magnesium was found usually effective for
treatment of depression in general use. Related and accompanying
mental illnesses in these case histories including traumatic brain
injury, headache, suicidal ideation, anxiety, irritability,
insomnia, postpartum depression, cocaine, alcohol and tobacco
abuse, hypersensitivity to calcium, short-term memory loss and IQ
loss were also benefited. Dietary deficiencies of magnesium,
coupled with excess calcium and stress may cause many cases of
other related symptoms including agitation, anxiety, irritability,
confusion, asthenia, sleeplessness, headache, delirium,
hallucinations and hyperexcitability, with each of these having
been previously documented. The possibility that magnesium
deficiency is the cause of most major depression and related
mental health problems including IQ loss and addiction is
enormously important to public health and is recommended for
immediate further study. Fortifying refined grain and drinking
water with biologically available magnesium to pre-twentieth
century levels is recommended.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

: Introduction
: Methods and procedures
: Results
: Discussion
: References

INTRODUCTION

Major depression, one of the affective disorders, is a mood
disorder characterized by a sense of inadequacy, despondency,
decreased activity, pessimism, anhedonia and sadness where these
symptoms severely disrupt and adversely affect the person's life,
sometimes to such an extent that suicide is attempted or results.
Irritability, insomnia, lethargy, agitation and anxiety often
accompany depression. About 10% of the American population is
affected by depression at any given moment. The World Health
Organization showed that unipolar major depression was the leading
cause of disability globally in 1990, and suggests that depression
and heart disease will be the most common diseases on Earth by
2020 [1], with both of these diseases having strong magnesium
deficiency components.

Contemporary approaches to treating unipolar major depression and
manic depression (bipolar disorder) utilize a wide variety of
drugs that include monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, tricyclic
compounds, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and
lithium (for bipolar disorder). These drugs need several weeks to
become fully functional.

Varley [2] and many others have shown concern that some
antidepressant drugs promote suicide rather than prevent it,
particularly in children and adolescents, wherein adverse
mood-related effects, including suicide attempts is 4% in active
drug versus 2% in placebo-treated patients. This wide-spread
concern has resulted in "Black Box" warnings by the United States
Food and Drug Administration and outright declarations of
contraindications for the United Kingdom for most antidepressants.
This led Varley to ask, "What options now?"

In answer to Varley's question, magnesium should again become the
treatment of choice due to its: (1) wide role in brain
biochemistry, (2) safety, (3) long history in treating depression
and other mental health issues. Depression appears to be a
magnesium deficiency disorder especially in major and suicidal
depression, but not necessarily in simple "melancholy" or
depression caused by other factors such as underlying disease
(particularly hepatitis C), hormonal imbalance (particularly
hypothyroidism and low testosterone), low cholesterol, Wilson's
Disease, food allergy (particularly gluten intolerance), and
adverse reaction to medications.

The benefit of magnesium to treat agitated depression was first
published in 1921 by Weston [3]. Magnesium sulfate (10% elemental
magnesium) was injected in doses of one to two CCs of a 25% or 50%
solution resulting in nearly all of his fifty patients relaxing
and sleeping from 4 to 6 h.

Magnesium is recognized in homeopathic medicine for the treatment
of depression. For example, magnesium chloride (Magnesia
Muriatica) has been used for many decades to relieve various
emotional problems including anxiety, apathy, aversions, despair,
depression, discontent, headaches, insecurity, irritability, over
sensitiveness, restlessness, sulkiness, talkativeness and
uncertainty.

Wacker and Parisi [4] reported in 1968 that magnesium deficiency
could cause numerous neuromuscular symptoms including
hyperexcitability, depression, behavior disturbances, tetany,
headaches, generalized tonic-clonic as well as focal seizures,
ataxia, vertigo, muscular weakness, tremors, irritability, and
psychotic behavior, each of which were reversible by magnesium
repletion.

According to Durlach and Bac [5], the mental health pattern
induced through simple magnesium deficiency is always neurotic and
never psychotic, for example: generalized anxiety, panic attack
disorders, and depression. Other psychiatric symptoms from
magnesium deficiency consisted of hyperemotionality, asthenia,
headache, insomnia, dizziness, nervous fits, lipothymias (repeated
fainting), and sensations of a "lump in the throat" and of
"blocked breathing", all of which can be effectively treated with
magnesium. Although a neurosis pattern due to magnesium deficiency
is frequently observed and simply cured through oral
supplementation, neuroses are preeminently conditioning factors
for stress.

Cernak et al. [6] showed that chronic stress decreases both free
and total plasma ionized magnesium and simultaneously increased
oxidative stress in humans. These findings support the need for
magnesium supplementation for people living in conditions of
chronic stress. However, about 70% of United States and the West
have diets containing less than the recommended 400 mg of
magnesium per day and up to 20% have diets with less than one-half
the recommended intake. Increased stress builds up further
worsening magnesium deficiency, with health issues such as
depression and cardiovascular disease resulting.

Magnesium deficiency symptoms are non-specific due to its
necessity in over 325 enzymes. With most of these enzymes being
brain-related, the possibility that magnesium deficiency is
involved in a variety of neurosis can be safely assumed.

Opportunity arose to test the hypothesis that magnesium would be
helpful in subjects with major depressive disorders. After
explaining the possible risks and benefits, and obtaining informed
consent, the subjects proceeded to treat their depression with
magnesium.

Methods and procedures

A non-drinking, 59-year old hypomanic-depressive male, having had
a long history of mild depression treatable with antidepressants,
suddenly became extremely anxious, insomniac, tetanic and
suicidally depressed after a year of extreme personal, business
and noise stress and poor dietary habits (fast food). He was not
responsive to treatment with a number of antidepressants and
lithium carbonate. After reviewing the report of Durlach
concerning magnesium and depression [5], he was treated with
magnesium. He was given 300 mg of magnesium, as glycinate and
later as taurinate, to take orally with each meal and at bedtime.

A 23-year-old woman, who had 5 years previously suffered traumatic
brain injury and lost much of her short term memory and some of
her IQ, suddenly became severely depressed after experiencing
long-term stress due to several stressors related to diet (fast
food), work, constant noise, and especially because of very poor
academic performance after having had excellent grades prior to
her brain injury. Antidepressants had beneficial effects, but her
concern about side effects caused her to switch to magnesium. She
was given 200 mg of magnesium (as taurinate) to take with each
meal and at bedtime.

A 35-year old woman, having had three children followed by severe
postpartum depression (PPD) in each case, was given 200 mg of
magnesium (as glycinate) to take each meal during her pregnancy to
prevent PPD during her fourth pregnancy. Antidepressants had
previously had some beneficial effects, but side effects were
worrisome to her. Part of her decision to take magnesium was her
desire to prevent preeclampsia, a known but often ignored
magnesium deficiency condition [7].

A 40-year old man, irritable, anxious, extremely talkative,
moderately depressed, and heavily into use of food, tobacco
(smoking and chewing), alcohol and cocaine, took 125 mg of
magnesium (as taurinate) with each meal and at bedtime in an
effort to relieve his symptoms.

Results

The 59-year old man experienced life-saving benefit from
magnesium. The first night after starting magnesium, sleep was
restored essentially to normal. Within the following 4 days,
depression was greatly reduced for 4-6 h after each magnesium
dosage. Anxiety steadily disappeared. Tetany and headaches rapidly
disappeared. On occasion, 2:00AM doses were also required to
maintain a feeling of wellness. Over the following months,
normalcy was maintained only by frequent magnesium ingestion. In
this patient, depression always occurred 1 h after taking a 500 mg
calcium (carbonate) dietary supplement, which was extinguishable
within 1 h only by administration of 400 mg of magnesium. This man
was extremely sensitive to calcium, and elimination of all dairy
and supplemental forms of calcium was mandatory for mental
stability. Osteoporosis due to low calcium intake was feared, but
a high magnesium and low calcium diet did not have an adverse
effect on his bone density over a 5-year observation period.
Normal life free of depression was difficult to maintain without
frequent magnesium treatment, until Kefir, a rich source of
beneficial intestinal flora and inulin (vital for magnesium
absorption [8]), and indole-3-carbinol (200 mg per meal) were
added to his diet. These nutrients seemed to stabilize the
beneficial effect of magnesium, perhaps by improvements in
intestinal absorption, digestion and immunity. After incorporation
of these agents into his diet, total wellness occurred, which was
easily maintained with much less magnesium.

After 1 week of magnesium treatment, the 23-year old woman became
free of depression. Unexpectedly, her short term memory and IQ
also returned, benefits only previously shown in rats [9] when
immediately treated with magnesium after traumatic brain injury.
However, her mental acuity returned nearly immediately upon
magnesium treatment, even though the trauma had occurred 5 years
earlier.

The 35-year old woman delivered her baby on schedule without
developing any aspect of postpartum depression, preeclampsia or
any other illness associated with pregnancy. The baby was healthy,
full weight and quiet.

The 40-year old man found himself free of his symptoms within a
week, and unexpectedly found his craving for smoking, dipping,
cocaine and alcohol to disappear also. It seemed that magnesium
deficiency caused his habituation. He also noted that his ravenous
appetite was suppressed, and beneficial and desired weight loss
ensued.

Discussion

We have shown efficacy, as have others, in treating depression and
some related mental disorders with magnesium. We suggest that
magnesium treatment will be found effective in future clinical
trials, at least to an extent equivalent to antidepressant drugs,
and perhaps more effective.

The occurrence of depression 100 years ago was rare, occurring
primarily in the elderly. Only 1% of Americans born before 1905
developed depression before they were 75 years old, while 6% of
Americans born in 1955 developed depression by the time they were
24 years old. [10] Previous to 1905, grains were not refined and
there was adequate magnesium (over 400 mg per day) in the diet. At
that time, refining was necessary to prevent spoilage. One hundred
years later, only 16% of the magnesium found in whole wheat grain
remains in refined flour, [11] lowering dietary intake of
magnesium in some severe cases by 250 mg per day and setting the
stage for magnesium deficiency. Additionally, we often rely on
diets containing too much calcium, while taking on more stressful
activities.

Inadequate dietary magnesium in today's diet is clearly evident
from a 4-min 16-mb video production titled, "Foods Containing 400
mg of Magnesium" located on the Internet at:
http://coldcure.com/gif/foods-containing-400mg-magnesium.wmv.
Further, some city and residential water treatment systems remove
all minerals from drinking water, and bottled beverages no longer
contain nearly as much minerals as they did 100 years ago.
Consequently, due to widespread removal of magnesium from human
food and drink, we hypothesize that most cases of major
depression, including postpartum depression, may be related to
magnesium deficiency.

Not only has the incidence of depression increased greatly in the
last 100 years, but the age of onset has also fallen greatly.
Depression was essentially unheard of in children in 1906. Today,
children in the United States are taking four times the amount of
psychiatric medications as children in the rest of the world
combined [12], with essentially no emphasis being placed on
magnesium in their food. For example, we were not able to find
magnesium listed as an ingredient on any packaged food, except
Plantersr Peanuts, in grocery stores in the United States.
Consequently, what used to be a disease risk primarily for the
elderly is now common in all ages including children.

Some dietary supplements sold in the United States and the West
contain magnesium, although the ligand of choice for large-scale
manufacturers is "oxide" due to its compactness and ease of use in
manufacturing. Unfortunately, magnesium oxide is not biologically
available in the human body [13], [14] and [15]. Other magnesium
ligands including chloride, sulfate (Epsom Salts), citrate,
lactate, malate, glycinate and taurinate produce highly
biologically available magnesium complexes.

Taurine, Gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) acid and glycine are major
inhibitory neurotransmitters in the central nervous system,
predominantly active in the spinal cord and brain stem. Taurine
and glycine also act as a modulator of excitatory amino acid
transmission (glutamate) mediated by N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)
receptors. Shealy et al. [16] found that magnesium and taurine
were deficient in nearly all depressed patients.

Magnesium glutamate and magnesium aspartate greatly worsened the
59-year old man's depression. A possible reason for this
observation is that excess glutamate is more cytotoxic than
cyanide to neurons in bringing into neurons toxic levels of
calcium ions [17]. These magnesium compounds should be considered
as neurotoxic to depressives, and perhaps all people, and should
not be used during treatment of depression, anxiety or similar
hyperemotional disorders. Food and drink products containing
monosodium glutamate and aspartate should not be used by
depressives.

This report is based on internet page
http://coldcure.com/html/dep.html (Rapid Recovery From Depression
Using Magnesium Treatment), a 135 page report that receives a
quarter million accesses per year. This page is permanently
archived on the WayBack machine at http://archive.org. Most
correspondence reported that the page viewer's depression was
effectively treated with high-dose magnesium. Viewers were pleased
to find something natural that helped them instead of using
prescription drugs. Most reported having had treatment-resistant
depression, while others were simply reluctant to use psychiatric,
antidepressant drugs due to their fear of side effects. While over
60,000 Internet pages were found using the search terms "major
depression" and "magnesium", there were only 11 medical journal
articles found with the same search terms. This suggests that the
public is far more interested in magnesium for depression than is
medical science.

The single largest obstacle to viewers' success in treating
depression appeared to be continued, excessive intake of dietary
calcium. Some viewers were found to have kidney or digestive
diseases that impaired magnesium metabolism, forestalling their
recovery from depression until those conditions were corrected.
Apparently, the use of indole-3-carbinol to improve magnesium
utilization is new.

One physician-viewer, having suffered from severe depression for
two decades, reported that he had found the above web page several
years earlier and totally dismissed it as being overly simplistic,
recounting that "scientists are not so stupid as to have
overlooked magnesium". In total desperation, he finally tried
magnesium treatment and it "cured" his depression. Later, he
became verbally abusive with the writer because the page made it
seem too simple, and because of that, he had dismissed the idea as
preposterous and continued to suffer. Irritability is a sign of
modest magnesium deficiency, consequently this physician could be
diagnosed as "needing more dietary magnesium". Although
irritability can cause violence, no clinical data has been
published about the ability of magnesium to prevent violence,
although we hypothesize that a magnesium-replete population would
be less violent.

The main side effect reported from high-dose magnesium and low
calcium intake as treatment for depression was diarrhea. This
results mainly from the attachment of each magnesium ion to about
800 molecules of water in the intestinal tract. Any treatment to
terminate diarrhea, including lowering magnesium intake, was
deemed essential to promote proper absorption of nutrients. One
gram of arginine with each meal helped prevent magnesium-induced
diarrhea, while 3 g per meal caused severe constipation, perhaps
due to the effect of excessive arginine-induced nitric oxide on
nonadrenergic, noncholinergic inhibitory nerves of the colon [18].
Methods of introducing magnesium to treat depression without
causing diarrhea were by injection, by rectum and topical. Of
these alternatives, daily topical application to the chest and
back using 25% magnesium chloride solutions as described by Shealy
[16] was preferred due to simplicity and apparent lack of side
effects.

Fig. 1, by the University of California, San Diego - Department of
Cognitive Science, shows magnesium ion involvement in nerve cell
electrical conduction activity in a regulatory fashion for calcium
ions. Magnesium ions normally block calcium ions within the
N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor channel. When magnesium ions
are missing, the channel is unblocked and calcium ions and sodium
ions enter the postsynaptic neuron as potassium exits. Sapolsky
[19] suggested that magnesium depletion was likely to be
deleterious to neurons possibly by causing NMDA-coupled calcium
channels to be biased towards opening. From our observations,
Sapolsky is correct with the damage to neurons appearing to the
individual as depression and related mood disorders.

Display Full Size version of this image (71K)

Figure 1. Magnesium has a role in regulating calcium ion flow in
neurons.

Paul [20] suggested that any means of reducing pathological
neuronal calcium ion flow to reduce resulting pathological nitric
oxide neuronal output would have antidepressant effects. Durlach
and Bac [5] reported that magnesium deficiency increased nitric
oxide production. Too much calcium ion and glutamate with
insufficient magnesium ion, particularly in the hippocampus, plays
a vital role in brain cell synaptic dysfunction leading to
depression and other mood and behavioral disorders. These
observations help explain why the 59-year old man was highly
sensitive to calcium and mono-sodium-glutamate, making him nearly
immediately depressed upon their consumption.

Murck [21] showed many actions of magnesium ions supporting their
possible therapeutic potential in affective disorders.
Examinations of the sleep-electroencephalogram (EEG) and of the
endocrine system points to the involvement of the
limbic-hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical axis because
magnesium affects all elements of this system. Magnesium has the
property to suppress hippocampal kindling, to reduce the release
of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and to affect
adrenocortical sensitivity to ACTH. The role of magnesium in the
central nervous system could be mediated via the
N-methyl-d-aspartate-antagonistic, g-aminobutyric acid A-agonistic
or the angiotensin II-antagonistic property of this ion. A direct
impact of magnesium on the function of the transport protein
p-glycoprotein at the level of the blood-brain barrier has also
been demonstrated, possibly influencing the access of
corticosteroids to the brain. Furthermore, magnesium dampens the
calcium ion-protein kinase C related neurotransmission and
stimulates the Na-K-ATPase. All these systems have been reported
to be involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Singewald et
al. [22] also demonstrated induced magnesium deficiency in mice to
produce depression-like behavior which was beneficially influenced
with antidepressants.

What remains to be explained is exactly why control of calcium
ions is lost in depression, although depletion of magnesium ions
certainly could cause it by impairing control of calcium ions in
neuronal channels resulting in calcium ion cascades that are
pathological (excitotoxic). A compelling argument for the use of
calcium channel blockers, such as therapeutic doses of magnesium,
is that the influx of calcium ions from the extracellular fluid to
the cytosol of cells through calcium channels is important for the
proper release of neurotransmitters from presynaptic neurons [23].
Interestingly, some calcium channel blocking drugs used in
cardiology have been reported to increase depression and suicide
risk.

Seelig and Rosanoff [24] reviewed the evidence that chronic stress
depletes magnesium reservoirs, increasing the risk of depression.
Elevated cortisol in a subset of depressives is an enduring and
well-replicated finding [25].

Papadopol et al. [26] in Romania compared the Intelligence Quota
(IQ) of children growing up at home compared with the IQ of
children growing up in a stressful orphanage. Stress from
orphanage living drove down intracellular magnesium so severely
that orphans lost much of their IQ (see Fig. 2). Attention,
memory, psychoticism and neuroticism were also similarly, but
less, affected. Magnesium deficit caused a number of
neuropsychological disorders including, agitation, anxiety,
depression, irritability, weakness, fatigue, confusion, asthenia,
sleeplessness, headache, convulsive and nervous attacks, delirium,
hallucinations and hyperexcitability [26]. Nothing could be more
harmful to the minds of children than stress-induced magnesium
deficiency. Yet, in search of academic excellence increasingly
more stress is applied to children. Their diets are often
insufficient in magnesium to protect them from stress,
consequently they are treated with antidepressants and other
drugs.

Display Full Size version of this image (29K)

Figure 2. Distortion in children's IQ attributed to stress-induced
damage to intracellular magnesium in institutionalized homes vs.
home living - from Papadopol.

There are reports that there was no difference in the serum
concentration of magnesium ion or calcium/magnesium ratios [27],
and that magnesium was higher in serum of depressives [28],
however, these observations do not represent what is going on
inside the central nervous system. Banki et al. [29] showed that
both cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and
magnesium ions are low in suicidal depressives. Levine et al. [30]
showed that there were high serum and cerebrospinal fluid calcium
to magnesium ratios in recently hospitalized acutely depressed
patients. Kalinin et al. [31] using magnesium lactate and vitamin
B-6 (required for absorption of magnesium) showed benefit in
anxiety and depression treatment in patients with epilepsy. There
are numerous reports showing magnesium to be extremely beneficial
in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
suggesting that ADHD is a symptom of magnesium deficiency [32].

Hypothyroidism, a known cause of depression, is associated with
low magnesium with circulating T4 levels being directly correlated
with magnesium serum levels [33]. The depression attributable to
hypothyroidism is hypothesized to be caused by resultant low
magnesium, which is restored to normal only by proper treatment of
hypothyroidism.

Several secondary injury factors have been identified in traumatic
brain injury including oxidative stress, changes in blood flow,
neurotransmitters and metal ionic changes, edema and energy
failure. Of these, magnesium ion decline has been identified as
playing a crucial role in the secondary injury process [34].

Postpartum depression can be much more severe than clinical
depression. The fetus and placenta absorb enormous amounts of
nutrients (especially magnesium) from the mother and loss of
magnesium to the fetus coupled with insufficient intake of
magnesium by the mother is hypothesized to be the cause of
postpartum depression. Lactation is also known to deplete maternal
magnesium [4]. Our observations support this otherwise unreported
concept.

Consistent with our observations, elimination of cravings by
magnesium for tobacco, alcohol and cocaine has been separately
observed. For example, Nechifor et al. [35] found that magnesium
supplements reduced the number of cigarettes smoked. Margolin et
al. [36] demonstrated utility of magnesium in reducing the craving
for cocaine. Murray and Berger [37] showed that magnesium was
helpful in alcohol withdrawal. The Alturas [38] showed that
alcohol greatly lowered serum magnesium, raising the potential for
headaches, strokes and brain injury.

The process of normal aging is accompanied by changes in
sleep-related endocrine activity, and in depression sleep is often
highly disturbed. During aging an increase in cortisol and a
decrease in renin and aldosterone concentration occur. In aged
subjects more time is spent awake and slow-wave sleep is reduced.
The natural NMDA antagonist and GABA agonist, magnesium ion, plays
a key role in the regulation of sleep and endocrine systems such
as the HPA system and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.
Magnesium ion partially reverses sleep EEG and nocturnal
neuroendocrine changes occurring during aging [39]. The
similarities of the effect of magnesium ion and lithium ion
furthermore support the efficacy of magnesium ion as a mood
stabilizer, and one may show that lithium ions play some of the
roles normally performed by magnesium ions in the brain. Clearly,
magnesium (200-400 mg) is extremely effective in promptly inducing
sleep when taken at bedtime, and sleep is vital to recovery from
depression.

Even national security issues may result from magnesium
deficiency. Consider that Saudi Arabia, in its modernization
process, removes most magnesium and other minerals, such as boron
(necessary for magnesium absorption and proper brain function [40]
and [41]), from drinking water processed by reverse osmosis.
Reliance on refined grain products, rather than whole grain
products, results in inadequate dietary magnesium. Inadequate
magnesium intake may be the cause of the 40% depression rate among
the elderly [42], and the nearly 25% depression rate in the 15-29
year old group [43], an age group that is the main source of
suicidal bombers. Consider that stress depletes magnesium and
increases oxidative stress in soldiers during military combat [6].
If all other factors between engaged armies are similar, surely
the army having the most resistance to stress via adequate brain
magnesium will prevail.

Low calcium and high magnesium (1:2 ratio) intake is vastly more
beneficial to overall health, including depression, cardiovascular
disease and osteoporosis than high calcium and low magnesium (2:1
ratio). The old 2:1 ratio worked well at a much earlier time when
we were getting enough magnesium from food and water.
Nevertheless, official governmental and highly scholarly dietary
recommendations remain backward. Excessive calcium intake prevents
absorption of magnesium in the intestinal tract, adversely
affecting health [4], [5], [12], [24] and [44].

The only "bone and joint" effect of the low calcium and high
magnesium diet on the 59-year old man was complete elimination of
all joint and back pain. This observation reflects terminating
hyperalgesia in rats via sensitization of nociceptive pathways in
the spinal cord involving NMDA and non-NMDA receptors by
administration of magnesium [45], which also explains why most of
Shealy's patients having depression with chronic pain were
magnesium deficient [16].

Since magnesium has sedative properties, caution is advised when
administering anesthesia and magnesium, or anesthesia to
magnesium-replete patients, as less anesthesia will be required
[46].

This report supports the overall hypothesis that magnesium is
therapeutic for depression and related mental disorders. However,
in the United States, it is effectively illegal to market
nutrients to treat, cure, and prevent diseases. This disconnect
between policy and reality creates artificial, insidious illnesses
which are frustratingly hard to address at the policy level, as
was found by Aaserud et al. [7] in 2005 in their efforts to
promote magnesium for the prevention of preeclampsia, something
that was first demonstrated in 1925 by Lazard [47].

It is likely that magnesium deficiency causes most major
depression and related mental health illnesses, IQ loss and
addictions. We suggest that magnesium deficiency as cause of these
disorders is enormously important to public health and is
recommended for immediate, wide-spread further study. The public
should be advised to obtain more than 600 mg of dietary magnesium
a day to enable them to adequately handle stress and prevent
neuronal calcium ion injury. Fortifying refined grain and drinking
water with biologically available magnesium is recommended.

References

[1] World Health Organization, The World Health Report. Making a
Difference, World Health Organization, Geneva (1999).

[2] C.K. Varley, Treating depression in children and adolescents :
what options now?, CNS Drugs 20 (2006), pp. 1-13. Full Text via
CrossRef | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (3)

[3] P.G. Weston, Magnesium as a sedative, Am J Psychiat 78 (1921),
pp. 637-638.

[4] W.E. Wacker and A.F. Parisi, Magnesium metabolism, N Engl J
Med 278 (1968), pp. 712-717 On Internet
athttp://coldcure.com/html/magnesium-metabolism.html. View Record
in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (30)

[5] D. Durlach and P. Bac, Chapter 20, Mechanisms of Action on the
Nervous System in Magnesium Deficiency and Dementia. In: M. Yasui,
M.J. Strong, K. Ota and M.A. Verity, Editors, Mineral and metal
neurotoxicology, CRC Press, Boca Raton, New York, London, Tokyo
(1997) On Internet athttp://www.mgwater.com/dur30.shtml.

[6] I. Cernak, V. Savic, J. Kotur, V. Prokic, B. Kuljic and D.
Grbovic et al., Alterations in magnesium and oxidative status
during chronic emotional stress, Magnes Res 13 (2000), pp. 29-36.
View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (19)

[7] M. Aaserud, S. Lewin, S. Innvaer, E.J. Paulsen, A.T. Dahlgren
and M. Trommald et al., Translating research into policy and
practice in developing countries: a case study of magnesium
sulphate for pre-eclampsia, BMC Health Serv Res 5 (2005), p. 68.
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Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +1 512 263 0805.

Copyright c 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ScienceDirectr
is a registered trademark of Elsevier B.V.


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