CF: low magnesium warning

[Guest guest]

Fred: I think the following is important and people on the Cystic-L should

read and heed. I'm no longer on the Cystic-L, so will you please forward

this message to that list? Thanks.

Love to you both,

Kim

Hi,

A couple months ago someone posted to the Cystic-L about facial pain or spasm

and wondered about it's cause. I responded to the List that I sometimes get

this too and was interested in learning more.

Perhaps now I know why. I've known for several years that magnesium

deficiency is linked to asthma and migraines but I didn't realize the full

scope of deficiency. Apparently, many things we've seen people describe on

the CF lists are linked to magnesium deficiency: asthma, migraines,

depression, ADD, fibromyalgia, etc.

Yesterday I started searching the Internet for magnesium and asthma because I

wanted to see if there is a link between low magnesium and CF -- and also

perhaps a correlation showing low magnesium and high lung acidity. As some

of you know there is research indicating higher acidity in CF lungs, which is

responsible for that nice bacterial breeding ground.

Today I found an article that points to hypomagnesium (low magnesium) and

face pain. For that person who wrote a couple months ago, I've copied a

quote from the article hoping she/he will see it. HOWEVER, there is also

something more important for everyone to read: a link between aminoglycides,

especially tobramycin, and hypomagnesium. So please keep reading past the

short quote because this may apply to you, your child, spouse or patient.

[A patient with hypomagnesemia may also produce Chvostek's sign, which is a

facial spasm caused when the doctor taps gently over the facial nerve. This

condition of painful intermittent muscle contractions and spasms is known as

tetany.]

After reading the full article, a friend and I did a very fast online search

for magnesium and she found an English medical abstract linking low magnesium

to tobramycin articles. I was astounded and hope that people will ask their

CF doctors to begin including magnesium levels when checking lab work -- even

if you're not using aminoglycide antibiotics.

I'm now wondering if there is a link between low magnesium and CF carriers

(which might explain the sometimes facial pain I get, along with migraines).

And I'm still wondering about any link between lung acidity and low magnesium.

If you have any information about past proven research or works in progress,

I would be most grateful if you would share the information.

In the meantime I've decided to include extra magnesium in my son's daily

vitamin supplements. He's been inhaling TOBI for so long that I can't help

but wonder that this may have lowered his magnesium levels. Additional

magnesium may help ease breathing because of his asthma component.

If anyone would like copies of the links to this material, please email me.

My best to all...

Kim

kpaynecows@...