Inflammation is the missing link to explain the role of magnesium in many pathological conditions including cancer.
Magnesium deficiency causes and underpins chronic inflammatory build ups. Dr. A. Mazur et al[1] have shown in experimentally induced magnesium deficiency in rats that after only a few days a clinical inflammatory syndrome develops and is characterized by leukocyte (white blood cell) and macrophage activation, release of inflammatory cytokines and excessive production of free radicals. “Magnesium deficiency induces a systemic stress response by activation of neuro endocrinological pathways,” writes Dr. Mazur. “Magnesium deficiency contributes to an exaggerated response to immune stress and oxidative stress is the consequence of the inflammatory response,” he continued.
Increases in extracellular magnesium concentration cause a decrease in the inflammatory response while reduction in the extracellular magnesium results in inflammation. Inflammation causes endothelial dysfunction and activated endothelium facilitates adhesion and migration of cancer cells. Magnesium literally puts the chill on inflammation.
It is magnesium that modulates cellular events involved in inflammation. A silent kind of inflammation has an insidious nature and is the culprit behind diabetes and heart disease. The chronic and continuous low-level stress that silent inflammation places on the body’s defense systems often results in an immune-system breakdown. Magnesium deficiency is a parallel silent insult happening at the core of our physiology. Magnesium deficiencies feed the fires of inflammation and pain.
[1] Mazur A, Maier JA, Rock E, Gueux E, Nowacki W, Rayssiguier Y. Magnesium and the inflammatory response: Potential physiopathological implications. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2006 Apr 19; PMID: 16712775Equipe Stress Metabolique et Micronutriments, Unite de Nutrition Humaine UMR 1019, Centre de Recherche en Nutrition Humaine d’Auvergne, INRA, Theix, St. Genes Champanelle, France.Arch Biochem Biophys. 2006 Apr 19