Assessment of magnesium status for diagnosis and therapy.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and expert opinion without original data or systematic review methodology
PubMed 20736141 · doi:10.1684/mrh.2010.0213
What was done
This is a narrative commentary and review examining the clinical utility and reference intervals of serum magnesium concentration (SMC) for assessing magnesium status in human health.
What was found
The abstract reports no empirical data or statistical results from a primary trial. Based on reviewed literature, the author argues that traditional reference intervals fail to detect chronic negative balance and recommends establishing 0.85 mmol/L as the lower limit of the reference interval for health.
Why it matters
Standard lab reference ranges may miss chronic latent magnesium deficiency because bone stores buffer serum levels, potentially leading to underdiagnosis and undertreatment.
Limits
The publication is an expert commentary/narrative review without primary experimental data, systematic search criteria, or reported sample size. Diagnostic accuracy metrics (such as sensitivity and specificity) for the proposed 0.85 mmol/L threshold are not provided in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Standard blood draw tests for magnesium do not reflect total body magnesium status because the majority is stored in bone and serum levels are transient.