Dietary magnesium intake associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women

Postmenopausal women represent the highest population burden of cardiovascular disease, including sudden cardiac death, however this trend could be reversed with dietary magnesium supplementation, according to a new prospective study based on data from the Women's Health Initiative. In the United States, its consumption reduces the risk of fatal coronary heart disease in these women.

The data revealed that higher magnesium intake was associated with a statistically significant risk reduction in fatal coronary heart disease and a reduction in the risk of sudden cardiac death.

For every increase in magnesium intake, there was a statistically significant risk reduction; after adjustment there was a 7% increase in fatal coronary heart disease, and an 18% risk reduction in sudden cardiac death. Likewise, in the age-adjusted quartile analysis, women with the lowest magnesium intake (189 mg/day) had the highest risk of fatal coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac death.

"Whether confirm the resultsIn this study, future research should test whether high-risk women would benefit from Supplements de Magnesium to reduce your risk of fatal coronary heart disease," said Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Women's Health and executive director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health in Richmond.

Magnesium plays an important role in cardiac electrophysiology. Both extracellular magnesium and intracellular magnesium have significant effects on cardiac ion channels, especially calcium and potassium channels. These effects can have important consequences on action potential duration, cellular excitability, and contractility. Therefore, magnesium, and in particular hypomagnesemia, is thought to play an important role in the pathophysiology of many cardiovascular diseases.