Do patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction need Magnesium?

Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction may have a total body deficit of Magnesium because of a low dietary intake, advanced age, or prior diuretic use. They may also acquire a functional deficit of available magnesium due to trapping of free magnesium in adipocytes, because soaps are formed when free fatty acids are released by cathecholamine-induced lipolysis with the onset of infarction.

Myocardial and urinary losses of magnesium that occur during Acute Myocardial Infarction may increase a patient's magnesium requirement. The magnesium action serves as a critical cofactor in over 300 intracellular enzymatic processes, including several that are integrally involved in mitochondrial function, energy production, maintenance of trans-sarcolemmal ionic gradients, cell volume control and resting membrane potential.

When is Magnesium efficient in Heart Attack?

Experimental models of Acute Myocardial Infarction in at least 4 different animal species have shown that supplemental administration of magnesium before coronary occlusion, during occlusion, coincident with reperfusion, or for short time interval (15 to 45 minutes) after reperfusion reduces infarct size and prevents myocardial stunning due to reperfusion injury. However, delayed administration of magnesium beyond a very short interval (15 to 60 minutes) after reperfusion is no longer effective in reducing myocardial damage [1].

Since 1984, several trials of routine supplemental administration of intravenous magnesium in patients with suspected Heart Attack have been conducted. It was revealed that the treatment effect of magnesium is greatest in patients at highest risk of mortality and decreases progressively as the mortality risk decreases.

Because of the cost efficiency, its ease of administration, widespread availability, and the fact that it has the potential to reduce mortality in high-risk Acute Myocardial Infarction patients, another large-scale multicenter trial (Magnesium in Coronaries [MAGIC]) is underway to define more explicitly the role of magnesium in Heart Attacks treatment.

Products which contain Magnesium

Below are healthy foods which contain Magnesium.

Foods	Quantity (mg | grains (gr))
Sunflower seeds	420 | 6.48
Wheat germs	308 | 4.75
Cashew nuts	270 | 4.16
Beans (haricot)	130 | 2.0
Spinach	58 | 0.89
Banana	36 | 0.55

References: [1] Antman E: Magnesium in Myocardial Infarction: Overview of available evidence. Am Heart J 132:487 - 494, 1996

Updated: March, 13 2008 19:32:19

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