Calcium Hype & Magnesium

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Calcium Hype & Magnesium

 

" How can one simple element have such diverse and potent physiological

actions?

One important way that magnesium works its miracles is

through itsinfluence on and regulation of calcium, a mineral that's

gotten than itsshare of media play in recent years.

 

You'd have to have been locked in a cave on the most remote corner of

Bora-Bora not to have heard the hype - particularly aimed at women

over forty ---

about taking more calcium to prevent deficiency and keep bones

strong.

 

And so now we have the entire nation chomping calcium

antacids by the handful, drinking calcium-fortified orange juice,

downing calcium supplements of all kinds in an effort to raise their

intake of calcium.

 

But guess what the calcium hype fails to point out?

 

It takes both calcium and magnesium (along with vitamin D) as well as

an entire intricate symphony of bit players (molybdenum, boron,

phosphorous, adequate protein, and bone-building hormones) to

properly build and maintain bone.

 

In fact,--

high levels of calcium in the blood can actually weaken bone and make

it more brittle!

 

And to make matters worse, taking excessive calcium without

magnesium will promote magnesium deficiency, leading to the

development of any of the host of diseases we mentioned earlier.

 

 

While its true that our bones need plenty of calcium to make them

strong,--

if it reaches excessive levels *within other cells*, its quite

harmful - a situation that can easily arise in the face of an

unbalanced intake of calcium and magnesium.

 

Let's see how this works.

 

Beyond its role in making bones hard, calcium serves as a critical

stimulating component in the generation of electrical impulses in many

tissues throughout the body ---

 

notably, the heart, the muscles, and the brain and nerves.

 

Calcium resides in the tissues in the fluid that bathes

the outside of the cells ---

 

and that's where the cells want calcium to

stay until it's called for.

 

When its needed for the generation of an electrical impulse, the

cells open tiny channels in their membranes - called, appropriately

enough,---

 

the calcium channels ---

 

to admit a controlled number of calcium ions. The inrush

of these calcium ions alters the electrical charge within the cells

and creates the spark for transmission of an electrical impulse.

 

As soon as it has done its job, however, the cell hustles the

calcium back out.

 

In fact, calcium inside the cell is so toxic that the cells expend

an enormous amount of energy keeping it in its proper place - on the

outside.

 

When too much gets in and remains inside the cell, bad things happen.

 

Many disease processes occur because the tight regulation of the

calcium channel fails,---

permitting calcium ions to flow into the cells unabated.

 

Rising calcium levels within a cell activate its energy-production

systems,setting in motion a variety of effects depending on the

tissue in question.

 

For example, calcium flowing unrestricted into the smooth muscle

cells inthe coronary arteries of the heart can bring on arterial

spasm and the chest pain called angina.

 

Calcium overstimulation of the cells in the

muscular layer of the temporal arteries (or others supplying blood to

the brain) can cause migraine headaches.

 

Excess calcium entering the cells of the

smooth muscles surrounding the small airways in the lung causes

constriction -

 

called bronchospasm - and the resultant wheezing of asthma and other

restrictive lung disorders.

If too much calcium flows into the delicate cells of the brain, the

repeated discharge of energy that follows may

deplete their energy stores,---

 

killing the cells!

 

Pharmaceutical companies have developed an entire family of drugs to

prevent this excess flow of calcium into the interior of the cells.

 

These drugs,--

 

called calcium channel blockers, are among the most versatile drugs

on the market currently approved for a wide range of medical

indications.

 

All these disparate diseases respond to a single action: preventing

excess alcium from entering the cell by blocking the calcium channel.

 

Ah, the

miracles of modern medical technology! But here the story gets even

moreinteresting, and its one reason we titled this chapter " The

Magnesium miracle "

 

Magnesium is nature's calcium channel blocker, acting as a natural

retardantto the flow of calcium ions into the cells.

Adequate magnesium

levels onthe inside of the cell prevent calcium's entry from without,

and all is wellwithin the cell.

If the interior of the cell becomes magnesium

deficient,however, watch out!

 

Calcium can then enter at will.

Medical researchers

have repeatedly demonstrated a low level of magnesium inside the

cells invirtually every disorder treated by calcium channel blocking

drugs.

 

So why don't doctors treat these patients with magnesium instead of

theterribly expensive prescription medications? For one thing,

because drug

companies can't patent natural substances, there's no army of

pharmaceuticalrepresentatives knocking on the doctor's doors, crowing

about the advantages

of simple, cheap magnesium in treating these disorders.

 

But the information

does slowly trickle down, and the good news is, many physicians are

beginning to use more magnesium in the treatment of disease.

 

In the emergency room, physicians now routinely give magnesium

directly intothe vein to relieve chest pain, stabilize the heart

rhythm, and reduce orprevent the death of heart muscle cells during a

heart attack.

 

And more andmore in the ER, astute physicians, recognizing the power

of magnesium torelax the spastic respiratory muscles and open the

airways, have begun to

give it by the IV route to break asthmatic attacks.

 

(Several research

studies have demonstrated that magnesium deficiency occurs nearly

uniformlyamong asthma sufferers and that replacing it will reduce the

number ofattacks.)

 

Obstetricians have been on the magnesium bandwagon since long before

we didour medical training, routinely giving intravenous injections

of magnesiumsulfate to treat toxemia of pregnancy, rapidly reducing

the malignant high

blood pressure sometimes associated with labor and delivery.

 

And since the discovery that virtually every patient admitted to the

medicalintensive care unit is deficient in magnesium, its intravenous

(IV)supplementation in these critically ill people has become

commonplace.

 

Unfortunately, most physicians don't yet use magnesium to prevent

these

disorders, mainly relying on it to treat diseases after they're

present.

 

As is too often the case with modern medicine, we close the barn door

after

the horse has gotten away. But that approach, we hope, is changing. "

 

source: Protein Power LifePlan p207-209

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

Friendsforhealthnaturally

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Magnesium.html