insulin-resistant diabetes, arteriosclerosis, skin disorders, lymph and kidney dysfunction, thyroid disease, cancer, anxiety and depression. As magnesium is also essential to synthesize RNA and DNA, low magnesium has even been found to be carcinogenic.
Low levels of magnesium lead to stress responses,
inflammation and tightness of muscles and joints.
Magnesium reserves diminish when we are not able to replace lost magnesium and also because increased stress levels cause excessive excretion of magnesium.
Asthma symptoms or anaphylaxis are also a sign of magnesium deficiency. An excessive immune response at the slightest provocation, resulting in uncontrollable chest spasms and tightening of airways can become debilitating, exhausting and in extreme cases fatal.
Magnesium can calm down this reaction via a "decrease in superoxide production, indicating that magnesium may modulate the inflammatory process and decrease
release of free radicals.
"The magnesium ion has an inhibitory action on smooth muscle contraction, on histamine release from mast cells and on acetylcholine release from cholinergic nerve terminals."
Low magnesium can also present as irregular heart beat with ventricular "mis-beats" or subsequently atrial fibrillation. The left ventrical of the heart contains more magnesium receptor sites than other muscles and just like getting eye twitches or leg spasms when magnesium levels get too low, the heart muscle can develop spasms.
Brandt et al. in 1958 reported that in all of the soft tissue and viscera analyzed from 24-48 hours after magnesium
IV administration, the heart took up the greatest
proportion.7
Of course, a cramp in the heart muscle is angina pain—
or worse, cardiac arrest. It has happened to many
endurance athletes who got critically low in magnesium
(and hydration). We need plenty of magnesium and
water to drive the electrical system.