CODEX Archives

Magnesium and epilepsy TESTIMONIAL (CODEX example)

Comments?
Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

If in doubt, try nutrition first."
(Roger J. Williams, PhD, in Nutrition Against Disease)
www.doctoryourself.com

Sarah and her fiancé Richard wanted to have children as soon as they
were married. Sarah had just been diagnosed with epilepsy, however,
and was offered Phenobarbital as therapy. She and Richard read up on
the drug, and now knew, as did their doctor, that pregnancy while
taking a barbiturate was not ideal.

"So we want to look into other options," Sarah said to me in the
office. "Could vitamins replace the drug?"

"I'm not sure," I said. "My mother has been medicated for grand mal
epilepsy for over 50 years now and it's a really long shot to think
that a nutrient could be enough. Still, Sarah, you have the
advantage of being young.

There is evidence that epilepsy in teenagers can be connected with
magnesium deficiency. You've had blood tests done?"

"Oh, yes," she said. "Tons of them, and here's the latest."

She handed me a copy. No one had even looked for serum magnesium.

"O.K. then," I said. "Ask your doctor to check your blood magnesium
levels, and let me know what they find."

So they did check. Sarah's serum magnesium levels were so low as to
be actually unmeasurable.

"The doctor was a bit surprised at that," Sarah said next time we
talked. "So now what?"

"Let's try a large quantity of magnesium, starting with a supplement
of 800 milligrams a day. That's just over twice the RDA, so it is
not unreasonable. Then you can gradually work up from there if need
be. You'll know if you are taking too much: the biggest side effect
of too much magnesium is diarrhea. You've heard of milk of magnesia?"

"The laxative, sure."

"That is a magnesium preparation. Your supplement will be better
absorbed, though. Especially if you take the right form, take it
often, and really need it. Then your body will soak it up like a
sponge. Try magnesium citrate, or magnesium gluconate. Divide your
daily intake over four or more doses, at least. Then let's see what
we get."

A few weeks later, we met again. Sarah had new bloodwork results in
hand. Her magnesium level was just barely measurable... and she was
taking 1,200 mg a day.

"Wow! Where's it all going?" Sarah asked. "I've had no loose bowels
at all."

"Your body is evidently using it. This suggests a real, long-
standing deficiency on your part. Of course, nearly 99% of young
women do not even get the US RDA of magnesium. But this is beyond
that. You have a special need for this mineral. The tests confirm
that."

"But wouldn't the blood levels go up more than that little bit?"
Sarah said.

"You'd think so, but not necessarily. You are more than your blood,
important though blood certainly is. Serum tests fail to indicate
how much of this or that is actually inside your body's cells. There
are, after all, some 40 trillion of them.

Magnesium is involved in over 2,000 chemical reactions throughout
your body. It is needed everywhere and always. Oddly enough, the
cells can be critically low in magnesium and some of the mineral
will often still show up in the serum. In your case, it's more the
other way around. Now that you are supplementing with magnesium,
your cells must be getting it, and there's not much left in the blood
that transports it. There are a lot of tanker trucks on your
highways, but they're empty. The cargo is delivered and now the fuel
is in every home."

"So it looks like I need more magnesium than most people," said
Sarah. "Well, if I do take lots of it, will I need less of the drug?"

"That's the idea. Do you want to run it by your doctor? You could
ask him if he'd consider try gradually decreasing your dose of
Phenobarbital down to the minimum that keeps you symptom free."

She did, and he did. Sarah ended up on the lowest possible dose of
the drug and a very high maintenance dose of magnesium. This was not
an landslide victory for nutrition, but it points to a greater good:
an optimally-nourished body may need very little medication.

What are the long-term consequences of millions of Americans taking
less of each of their many drugs? Healthier people, greater safety
and greater savings. Only the pharmaceutical companies could
possibly object.

And they do, of course. The US Food and Drug Administration shares
the industry's concern that it might lose its therapeutic monopoly.
Here is a direct quote from FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy David
Adams, at the Drug Information Association Annual Meeting, July 12,
1993:

"Pay careful attention to what is happening with dietary supplements
in the legislative arena... If these efforts are successful, there
could be created a class of products to compete with approved drugs.
The establishment of a separate regulatory category for supplements
could undercut exclusivity rights enjoyed by the holders of approved
drug applications."

And a quote from the FDA Dietary Task Force Report, released June
15, 1993:

"The task force considered many issues in its deliberations
including to ensure that the existence of dietary supplements on the
market does not act as a disincentive for drug development."

When is the last time you saw a calendar, pen, ad or prescription
pad in your doctor's hand that said "Magnesium" on it?

Keep looking. It will be in some quack's office, no doubt.

Or not. L.B. Barnett, MD was onto this some 40 years ago. He
wrote "Clinical Studies of Magnesium Deficiency in Epilepsy,"
published in Clinical Physiology 1(2) Fall, 1959. But who cares
about old papers? Our society prefers new lamps for old. New drugs
invariably preempt old minerals. Too bad, when the old lamp
or the old research may hold the genie.

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul. From the books
QUACK DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC, available from Dr. Andrew Saul,
Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470.
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