magnesium

15 March 2024

Unexpected Micronutrient Deficiencies

Recently we talked about the vitamin and mineral deficiencies which may trigger more headache and migraine attacks in patients using certain heartburn medications. The truth is that nutritional deficiencies can be caused by a variety of things, and the consequences can be quite serious.

Curt Hendrix over at Akeso Health Sciences recently wrote about the admittedly extreme case of a teen boy who eventually went blind because of undetected micronutrient deficiencies. After finding a B12 deficiency, he was given injections and a recommended diet plan. But more information came out about three years later:

Upon further examining his eating habits, doctors learned that “since elementary school, [the boy] would not eat certain textures of food.” Subsisting only on a diet of chips, processed meats, white bread, and a daily portion of french fries. Doctors also found copper, selenium, zinc, and vitamin D deficiencies, as well as decreased bone density.
Your Body’s Language: Nutritional Deficiencies and Consequences

An extreme case – I hope so – but maybe not as unusual as we think. Hendrix quotes estimates that 2 billion people in the world have a nutritional deficiency. And lest you think that we’re talking about only the poorest countries, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that almost 10% of the US population has at least one deficiency.

Certainly, these issues can be caused by genetics and many medications. But it is also surprisingly easy for us to fall into a diet that lacks variety and balance. One of the problems is that many of these tricky symptoms don’t show up right away – it may take years – and then, as in the case of this boy, the results may be irreversible. And even supplements may not be enough to correct the problem.

If you’re looking for one simple test for all deficiencies, you’re out of luck. But your doctor, or even certain home tests, can catch some of the major ones. You might want to consider testing, especially for iron, B2, B12, magnesium, and vitamin D. But certain symptoms may point to other deficiencies – your doctor can help you with that.

Sometimes, even with tests, it’s hard to nail down certain deficiencies. But what you can do is eat a balanced, nutrient-rich diet. Remember, just because you don’t have immediate problems because of what you ate yesterday doesn’t mean that you’re eating healthy.

After many years of migraine and headache research, I remain convinced that diet is one of the most powerful weapons you can use to fight migraine. Its importance is given lip service, but its true power is frequently underestimated.

To read more about this sad case and the danger of nutritional deficiencies in general, check out the full article here.

7 March 2024

More on [Avoiding] Heartburn Medications

James Tips 0

It’s been several years since we talked about headache and heartburn medications, but it’s such a big issue that we should probably revisit the question more often.

Woman with heartburn, headache, and gut problems.

As you probably don’t recall, we were talking about “Why Headache Patients Are Running from Esomeprazole (Nexium) and other “Heartburn” Drugs”. The main concern are proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), and concerns seem to be rising rather than subsiding.

Back then we were talking about the link to headache, which may be especially linked to certain deficiencies that use and long-term use of medications such as Nexium, Prilosec, Dexilant, and others may cause.

Prompted by 2023 study, which once again linked PPIs with dementia risk, Dr. Alexander Mauskop at the New York Headache Center updates us with a few more years of experience on the topic.

First, he points out the specific link to migraine – “…one study found that past and current use of PPI increased the odds of migraine by 2.56-fold and 4.66-fold, respectively”. In other words, current use significantly increases risk, but even past use may increase migraine risk.

But most helpful were his tips on quitting PPIs:

Stopping a PPI can cause severe rebound acidity. This is why people get stuck taking them for years. The way to try is by replacing the PPI with an H2 blocker such as famotidine (Pepcid, Zantac 360) along with an antacid such as Rolaids (it’s better than Tums because it contains not only calcium but also magnesium) or Gaviscon. After a few weeks, people can often stop famotidine and after another few weeks, stop the antacid. Famotidine does not cause problems associated with PPIs.
Dr. Alexander Mauskop

There is also some advice for those who need to be on PPIs for certain conditions. You can read the whole post here: More on the dangers of PPIs such as Prilosec, Nexium, Dexilant, et al.

One thing to consider is whether or not you may have a vitamin deficiency or ongoing problems with your gut flora. It might not hurt to check your B vitamin levels, and magnesium levels. Also, remember to keep your gut healthy. You may want to try a probiotic such as Primal Defense Ultra. (I’m very picky about probiotics, because so many are not as advertised, and others don’t have the types of probiotics you need most.)

14 March 2022

Migraine and Complications in Pregnancy

James Discoveries & Stats 0

A recent press release from the American Academy of Neurology reports on a study of women with migraine, and what kinds of complications they may expect during pregnancy. Should potential mothers be concerned? And what can they do to prepare in advance?

This study took a look at about 30,000 pregnancies in about 19,000 women. Over 2000 of those women had been diagnosed with migraine. So how did their pregnancies differ from the rest?

Researchers did indeed conclude that women with migraine were more likely to have certain complications:

Preterm Delivery – that is, delivery before 37 weeks.
Gestational High Blood Pressure – hypertension during pregnancy
Preeclampsia – another high blood pressure condition, often including signs of damage to the kidneys or liver.

The highest risk came with preeclampsia, a 40% higher risk, according to the study. This risk has been talked about for a long time – see Preeclampsia and Migraines.

It is, however, important to keep these numbers in perspective. Just how high is the risk?

From this study alone, this is what the risk of preeclampsia looks like:

Preeclampsia Risk with and without migraine

So note this. This “healthy” group includes people with migraine and without. So yes, far more people with migraine had preeclampsia than people without migraine who had preeclampsia. But your risk is still relatively low. And it’s a much better picture when it comes to hypertension and preterm delivery.

So what can you do? Actually, there are a number of things you can do to lower your risk even further, and keep your baby and yourself safe. For example:

Lower your risk for high blood pressure in other ways. Talk to your doctor about the medications you’re taking. Aim for a healthy lifestyle overall, which will include exercise, plenty of water, a healthy diet, and avoiding alcohol, smoking, and certain drugs.
Consider magnesium, which is a treatment for both migraine and preeclampsia. Read more at Preeclampsia, Migraine, and Magnesium
Other supplements and medications may help, such as calcium and vitamin D. Talk to your doctor about these. (Note that for migraine you won’t want to take calcium at the same time of day as magnesium.)
Talk to your doctor about your medical history.
Talk to your doctor about any changed in headache or related symptoms. This is very important.
Take a look at the Migraine During and After Pregnancy chart to know what you might expect during various stages.
Don’t ignore migraine symptoms overall – talk to a specialist about the many, many treatments that are available.
Check out The Myth-Busting Guide to Migraines and Pregnancy

Remember, although there seems to be some connection between migraine and some pregnancy risks, this study does not come anywhere close to telling us what the connection is. Yes, the researchers did adjust for some common risk factors to try to weed out weak connections. But we don’t know if there is some other common root cause, or if migraine symptoms may increase risk, or even if there is an unknown lifestyle connection.

The bottom line – it’s important to be aware of potential risks. But in most cases, these risks are small and manageable and no reason to avoid pregnancy.

This press release is only a preview of a report that will be given in April at the American Academy of Neurology’s 74th Annual Meeting. For more on the study, see Is migraine tied to complications in pregnancy?

1 June 2021

Does Magnesium Help You Live Longer?

James Discoveries & Stats, Information, Treatments 0

A recent study is highlighting the benefits of magnesium once again – not for migraine, but for long life in general.

The benefits of magnesium for migraine patients are now well-known. I have heard from many people who have found significant relief after starting on a magnesium supplement.

Of course it’s not always that simple. Some patients, for various reasons, may have lower magnesium levels than others. Getting tested will give you an idea where you’re at.

But this recent study, published in the journal Atherosclerosis (in case you don’t know, atherosclerosis refers to plaque build up in the arteries), links magnesium with cardiovascular conditions. As you may know, stroke and heart attack and various other related issues have been linked to migraine – migraine is often considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

This particular study found that people with lower levels of magnesium (below 0.73 mmol/l – see more about magnesium testing here) were more likely to die from cardiovascular issues. The researchers even adjusted for other common risk factors, in case these people also happened to have other related conditions that would explain the higher death rate. Even after the adjustments, the lower magnesium was still linked to the higher death rate.

But more than that – low magnesium was also linked to “all-cause mortality”. In other words, during the specified length of time (10.1 years), those with lower magnesium levels were significantly more likely in general to die.

This study tells us very little about why this may be – a number of factors may be involved. But if people with migraine are more likely to have lower magnesium levels, and be more likely to benefit from more magnesium, and are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease – well, it’s just another reason to make sure your magnesium levels are where they should be, and consider a supplement.

An interesting side note. We’ve been talking a lot about vitamin D lately, and especially about our need to get out into the sunshine. Low vitamin D is also linked to cardiovascular problems (see this article from Johns Hopkins for a summary – Do lower vitamin D levels mean higher risk for cardiovascular disease?). And, vitamin D is also important for magnesium absorption. Magnesium is also needed for vitamin D to be properly used in your body (see Role of Magnesium in Vitamin D Activation and Function).

Of course we could go on and on about what’s related to what – the body is a pretty complex system! But in research we often see certain patterns emerging that can point us in the right direction. And there is more and more evidence that migraineurs need to pay attention to their magnesium levels, and also their vitamin D. For various reasons, these days people often have low levels of one or both – whether it be from a “typical modern diet” or too much time indoors.

For more information, check out:

25 March 2021

Magnesium via Food or Supplement – and fewer Migraine Attacks

James Discoveries & Stats, Treatments 0

A new study, published in the journal Headache, once again points to magnesium as a key migraine-fighter.

*Did you know?* Spinach is super-high in magnesium!

We’ve talked a lot about magnesium in the past few years. And I haven’t kept track, but I’m pretty sure that of all the “thanks so much” emails I’ve received, the magnesium tips have been at least in the top 5 solutions that people have found for their migraine attacks.

This “cross-sectional analysis” is basically just an analysis of information that was gathered in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It’s only showing correlation – in other words, there is a connection – the study doesn’t “prove” that raising your magnesium levels tends to fight migraine. What it does do is match perfectly with previous studies as well as reports from many doctors, specialists and patients – that making sure you’re magnesium is at a proper level is key to fighting your migraine attacks.

The study showed that those who had the “recommended amount” of magnesium (current RDA in the USA) were at lowest risk of migraine. Those in the lowest quarter of the group, those who had the lowest intake of magnesium, were the ones who were at the highest risk of migraine attacks.

An interesting note was that the magnesium could be supplemented – in other words, it wasn’t just those who were getting all the magnesium from their diet, but also those who got some from supplements, who benefited.

There’s a lot more to read here at Headache and Migraine News about magnesium – such as dosage and why you shouldn’t take it with calcium. (if you’re taking it for migraine), a reminder that the type of magnesium you buy really matters, and which supplements some of our visitors have recommended.

For more on this particular study, see Dietary magnesium and migraine in adults: A cross?sectional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2004