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Adequate Magnesium Intake Reduces Risk For Cardiovascular Disease Type 1 Diabetics

Magnesium deficiency found among type 1 diabetics appears to be diet related, according to research in Denmark and the United States.

Researchers also found an association between magnesium repletion and a decrease in atherogenic lipid fractions and reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake.

Previously, a magnesium deficit among type 1 diabetics had been related to the development of cardiovascular disease. This led researchers from various specialist departments at Odense University Hospital in Odense and the State University of New York Health Science Centre at Brooklyn, New York, to test the hypothesis that these patients experienced deficits in dietary magnesium.

The researchers also questioned whether risk factors for cardiovascular disease would be reduced if patients were prescribed a long-term oral magnesium supplement.

Participants included 10 patients with type 1 diabetes and five control subjects who were assigned magnesium (Mg) supplementation. The Mg status, intake and effects then underwent evaluation.

The muscle Mg content , which had been decreased by 7 percent in patients with diabetes type 1, increased by 5 percent after 24 weeks of oral Mg supplementation. There was a decrease seen in serum total cholesterol, serum low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and apoliprotein B following Mg supplementation.

Furthermore, 24 weeks after oral Mg supplementation there was a decrease in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake.

The researchers established that eight of the 10 diabetic patients had a daily magnesium intake of less than 90 percent of the recommended dose.
Metabolism Clinical & Experimental Vol 50 No 12. "Magnesium reduces insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and serum lipid concentrations in type 1 diabetes"

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