Significance of magnesium in insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes – recommendations of the Association of Magnesium Research e.V

Magnesium (Mg) depletion is an important and highly prevalent condition in patients with diabetes or precursor states of type-2 diabetes like metabolic syndrome. Mg deficiency increases the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. These recommendations compile present data on the physiology of Mg in carbohydrate metabolism and pathophysiological consequences of Mg depletion for diabetics. Diabetes patients and candidates benefit from four categories of Mg effects: insulin-sensitizing effect, calcium antagonism, stress-regulating and endotheli-um-stabilizing effects. Clinical data with Mg co-medication show improvement of insulin resistance/blood glucose level and reduced long-term vascular damages in surrogate parameters. High serum Mg is associated with lower prevalence of retinopathy; severity of retinopathy is associated with the degree of Mg depletion. High serum Mg is also associated with less deterioration of renal func-tion in diabetics. Depression, a comorbidity of diabetes, is less prevalent in patients with high serum Mg. A standardized regime for diagnosing Mg depletion and a regime for supplementing these patients is outlined. Diagnosis of Mg depletion is simple, predominantly by a synoptic view of patient history and clinical or/and laboratory data.