Magnesium and drug interactions : review

Abstract EN

Unfortunately, hypomagnesaemia is the most under diagnosed electrolyte deficiency in current medical practice, means of diagnosing clinical magnesium deficiency of a lesser degree than other electrolyte deficiency associated with overt signs, such as convulsions or cardiac arrhythmias or other electrocardiographic changes are not readily accessible.

Plasma magnesium levels are unreliable as an index of its cellular inadequacy, because the means of evaluating magnesium status are complicated.

Until magnesium clinical methodology is improved and made available, the importance of correcting magnesium deficiency in man’s diet and of preventing intensification of a deficit when needs are increased by physiologic or pathologic processes and drugs, it will have to be inferential-based on suggestion of experimental and epidemiologic observations.

Because magnesium has pharmacologic activities that has been recognized for many years, demonstration of the correction of abnormal acute neurologic and cardiac signs (even though such signs are characteristic of acute magnesium deficiency) are not readily accepted as evidence that magnesium deficiency can contribute to diseases in which such magnesium-responsive signs are seen.

With notable exceptions, there has been clinical neglect of magnesium in most medical centers all over the world.

This is unfortunate because many of the pathogenic changes produced by experimental magnesium deficiency or loss resemble many of those of chronic diseases that are responsible for intractable medical problems.

This review is to emphasize that magnesium is essential in health and disease status, and to call the medical and scientific organization for the objective examination of the evidence, and for the exploration of the possibility that the prophylactic and treatment uses of magnesium might be effective, and this review also shows the mechanisms of interactions between some drugs and magnesium.