Wayne was only four years old, but he had been suffering
epileptic seizures for 3 1/2 years. Though the seizures were
particularly severe during stress periods, he was never
completely free of them.
Anticonvulsant drugs were used, but none was successful. The
boy's parents were resigned to the probability that he would have
a life plagued with severe epilepsy.
At that time Dr. Lewis B. Barnett, head of the Hereford Clinic and Deaf Smith Research Foundation
in Hereford, Texas, began a series of experiments. The boy became
a subject. He was given, in
addition to a normal diet, 450 mg. of magnesium gluconate and a
thyroid extract. Within two weeks all signs of epilepsy vanished,
and within the past three years there have been no signs of the
illness.
Is It Magnesium Deficiency?
In 28 more cases, the same story has been repeated. Children
of all ages, stricken with epilepsy failed to respond or
responded only slightly to modern drugs and therapy. Placed on
high oral doses of magnesium, they experienced stunning
improvement.
Barnett did not start out to investigate a relationship
between magnesium and epilepsy. He says, "My original work was
directed toward the role of magnesium in bone apatite, and while
investigating that field, it became obvious that magnesium might
play a vital role in the physiology of the central nervous
system." He studied the relatively
few reports in medical literature concerned with the mineral, and
found one by Martin, Meke, and Wertman. These researchers
reported that in a state of epilepsy there is a deficiency of
magnesium in the blood.
Children who definitely suffered from epilepsy were used in
the Hereford study. First, their blood magnesium levels were
established. In all cases, the levels were below normal,
supporting the findings of Martin, Meke, and Wertman. Next
Barnett decided to correct the deficiency by giving oral
magnesium preparations. "It was hoped that the magnesium
supplement would control the seizures," he told us in an
interview.
Within a matter of weeks the blood magnesium level returned to
normal, and in every case, except one there was definite clinical
improvement.
"After reviewing most of the literature," Mr. Barnett says,
"not very extensive according to references, it became obvious to
me that very little work had been done in this most important and
extremely active mineral--especially in its relation to the
physiology of the central nervous system."
In his experiments, Barnett used magnesium gluconate, a form
of magnesium which is easily absorbed by the system. 'Taken
orally in this form, magnesium is harmless in almost any
quantity," he reports. "The worst that can occur is that some
individuals will become drowsy."
This tendency toward causing drowsiness is one of the key
properties of the mineral.
Spine Concentrates
Magnesium
It has been known for many years that magnesium is an
analgesic. It is found both in the
blood and in the spinal fluid, and is the only electrolyte found
in higher concentration in the spinal fluid than in the blood.
This is an important fact for two reasons:
First, testing for a deficiency of magnesium in the spinal
fluid is easily done by taking a blood test and deciding what the
magnesium level in the blood is. Scientists have found that the
lower the blood level, the lower the spinal fluid level.
Second, the reason for the high magnesium content in the
spinal fluid is that the mineral is necessary for balancing the
stimulant effect of body hormones. The purpose of thyroid,
gonadal, adrenal and other hormones is to charge up or excite the
body. Magnesium and some other substances tend to slow down and
relax the system, thus regulating the hormones and achieving a
happy medium.
When magnesium deficiencies
occur--and there are a number of reasons why this can
happen--there is no regulation. Among the dangerous results of
this state listed in medical literature are heart damage,
osteoporosis, periodontal disease, and epilepsy. Another is
hyperirritability. "A great many people have a magnesium
deficiency manifesting itself in hyperirritability," Barnett
said. These people may often have a metabolic rate 125 percent
higher than normal, he says.
Their bodies and minds are greatly overactive, and they are
constantly irritated. This is undoubtedly a partial explanation
for the high rate of juvenile delinquency, divorce, and emotional
instability rampant in modem society.
Pituitary Gland Important
A magnesium deficiency, according to Barnett, is a prime cause
of the three million clinical and 10 to 15 million subclinical
epilepsy cases now in this country. Deficiency may occur not from
a lack of magnesium in the diet but because of malfunctioning of
the pituitary gland. As far back as 1952, researchers observed
that people suffering a magnesium deficiency had reactions
similar to those in people who had had the Pituitary gland
removed. The reason for this is not hard to understand.
The pituitary gland, located at the
base of the brain, is believed, to regulate the functions of all
the other glands of the body. It is the gland through which
magnesium works as a prime component of pituitary secretions to
regulate the functioning of the other glands. If magnesium is not
available or the pituitary is not functioning properly, the body
will suffer symptoms of a magnesium deficiency or a pituitary
malfunction, depending on how you look at it. (It must also be pointed out that fluoride bonds
with magnesium in the blood, into the insoluble magnesium
fluoride. This means that the magnesium cannot be assimilated by
the pituitary, with the consequent failure of the pituitary to
function properly that leads to the symptoms of magnesium
deficiency.)
The first step in treating the symptoms of magnesium
depletion, especially among children, is to eliminate milk from
the diet, according to Dr. Barnett. He reports that nine out of
ten childhood epileptics drink milk. Calciferol (synthetic
vitamin D), like fluorine, tends to bind the magnesium, he says.
Milk is loaded with this substance and therefore enhances the
problem. The synthetic form of the vitamin is 10 times more
active than the natural form--which means it is 10 times more
potent in binding magnesium. For this reason the natural vitamin,
as found in fish liver oils, will not cause magnesium depletion,
but milk can and does.
The second step, though new to medicine, is "old hat' to
ranchers. Green grass tetany, the
cattle equivalent of human hyperirritability, costs ranchers
about a half billion dollars a year. This problem can be
effectively treated only by adding magnesium to the animal's
diet, but this must be done before the disease reaches serious
proportions.
According to Barnett, this same therapy is often effective in
humans. He considers dolomitic limestone an excellent form of the
mineral.
Although compared to the early days of Barnett's research
there have recently been many studies done on magnesium, its
relation to epilepsy treatment has been largely ignored. Barnett
hopes that now his studies will lead to other clinical
experiments, and that eventually doctors will be able to control
many cases of epilepsy without using depressant drugs. "By
balancing their physiological state, with special emphasis on
intracellular chemistry, an easier and finer control of these
unfortunate individuals may be possible," he said.
This page was first uploaded to The Magnesium Web Site on
January 3, 2001
http://www.mgwater.com/
Healthy Water
Association--USA