Magnesium Salts
Prevent Reactions

Magnesium salts protect ani-
mals from anaphylactic shock,
an often fatal allergic reaction
that also strikes human beings,
according to a study recently
published in the Journal of Ba-
sic and Clinical Physiology and
Pharmacology.
Anaphylactic shock (AS) is a
severe immunological response
to a specific allergen, such as
wasp venom, pine pollen or cer-
tain drugs, including penicillin.
Symptoms range from itching
and shortness of breath to bron-
choconstriction and hypotension,
which in turn may result in the
blockage of blood vessels leading
to the heart, an often fatal con-
dition known as cardiac ana-
phylaxis (CA). Magnesium, a
natural and potent calcium an-
tagonist, has been shown in an-
imal studies to significantly
reduce the incidence of both AS
and CA. This element is effective
because it inhibits the flow of free
calcium (Ca2+), whose excessive
build-up in the blood vessel cells
contributes to the onset of the
immunological pathologies.

Magnesium could
prove beneficial in
preventing
stress-induced
shock.

Antigen-sensitized guinea pigs
which had been fed a magne-
sium-deficient diet were given a
single dose of magnesium chlo-
ride (MgC12) before being sub-
sequently exposed to the antigen.
This treatment reduced the in-
cidence of AS from 61 percent to
35 percent, of CA from 40 per-
cent to 10 percent and of mor-
tality from 39 percent to 19
percent. In addition, even when
AS did develop, it appeared in
a milder form.
Because the physiological re-
actions to different types of stress
involve calcium overload, mag-
nesium could prove beneficial in
preventing stress-induced shock
in general. One such reaction to
stress is acute myocardial in-
farction (AMI), and a,number of
hospitals in Israel and abroad
have begun to use magnesium
in clinical trials for patients with
this disorder.
"Our study has immediate
clinical significance," the re-
searchers write, "providing a sci-
entific basis and confirmation
that magnesium can lower mor-
lity, reduce myocardial injury
resulting from stress, and alle-

MAGNESIUM page 62

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