Subclinical magnesium deficiency: a principal driver of cardiovascular disease and a public health crisis.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and expert opinion without systematic search methodology or new empirical human data
PubMed 29387426 · doi:10.1136/openhrt-2017-000668
What was done
This is a narrative review and perspective piece evaluating the causes, diagnostic challenges, and cardiovascular consequences of subclinical magnesium deficiency based on physiological distribution, dietary changes, and food processing.
What was found
No quantitative study data, effect estimates, sample sizes, or statistical results are reported in the abstract. The authors note that intracellular magnesium constitutes >99% of total body magnesium (making serum levels unreflective of true status) and argue that widespread subclinical deficiency increases cardiovascular disease risk.
Why it matters
The paper highlights the diagnostic limitation of standard serum magnesium testing and frames subclinical intracellular magnesium depletion as an overlooked cardiovascular risk factor.
Limits
This is an unsystematic narrative commentary without original empirical data or quantitative meta-analysis. The assertions regarding population prevalence, causal disease mechanisms, and universal public health impact cannot be independently verified from the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Serum magnesium testing does not accurately reflect total body magnesium status because most magnesium resides intracellularly.