Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago examined possible correlation between magnesium level on admission to the hospital with the size of a stroke due to bleeding as well as functional outcomes. Their findings were published in Neurology.
290 patients presenting with a non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage had their demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiographic, and outcome data analyzed and assessed for associations between serum magnesium levels and initial hematoma volume, final hematoma volume, in-hospital hematoma growth, and functional outcome at 3 months.
Lower admission magnesium levels were associated with larger initial bleeds and larger final hematoma volumes. Lower admission magnesium level was associated with worse functional outcomes at 3 months after adjustment for age, initial hematoma volume, hematoma growth, and other factors. The evidence indicates that the beneficial effect of magnesium is due to the reduction in hematoma growth.
The authors concluded that having higher magnesium level can reduce the size of a bleed in the brain.
Unfortunately, magnesium is not a part of the routine blood tests included in the so-called comprehensive metabolic panel. This panel does include potassium, sodium, calcium and other tests, but magnesium needs to be ordered by the doctor separately. Very few doctors do and this can be detrimental to your health. Not only strokes are bigger, but many other much more common health problem can stem from magnesium deficiency. Readers of this blog know well that magnesium deficiency is very common in migraine patients and that taking magnesium (or getting an intravenous infusion) can provide dramatic relief.
Magnesium also helps asthma, palpitations, muscle cramps, PMS, brain fog, and many other symptoms. The next time you have any kind of a blood test, ask your doctor to add a magnesium test, preferably “RBC magnesium”, which is more accurate than “serum magnesium”. If you have any of the above symptoms, you can just start taking 350-400 mg of magnesium glycinate, which is the daily recommended allowance for magnesium.
