The role of magnesium in otology - A narrative review.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review with structured search synthesis
PubMed 42439044 · doi:10.1684/mrh.2026.0553
What was done
The authors conducted a narrative review based on a structured Medline search using MeSH terms for magnesium combined with tinnitus, sudden hearing loss, vestibular disorders, ototoxicity, and otoprotection to evaluate clinical evidence for magnesium in inner ear conditions.
What was found
The review reported that daily supplementation with >200 mg magnesium demonstrates evidence of protection against age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) and noise-induced damage. Magnesium showed potential adjunctive benefit alongside standard therapies (corticosteroids, CO2 inhalation) for sudden hearing loss and tinnitus. For vestibular disorders, phase II studies and case series reported benefits with 1–2 g intravenous magnesium sulfate acutely and 400 mg oral magnesium for prophylaxis. Evidence for preventing cisplatin ototoxicity was restricted to case reports. The abstract provides no quantitative effect sizes, pooled participant counts, or statistical metrics.
Why it matters
It clarifies the current state of clinical evidence for magnesium in otology, highlighting that robust support is largely confined to age-related hearing loss prevention while other uses remain experimental.
Limits
The paper is a narrative review rather than a systematic review with meta-analysis. The abstract reports no quantitative outcome data, risk of bias assessments, or total participant numbers, and notes that clinical evidence for most inner ear conditions is limited to small trials, case series, and case reports.
Cited by
- partial Magnesium in the cochlear endolymph is depleted by loud sound, and magnesium supplementation protects against acoustic trauma and permanent hair cell loss.