- Main symptoms
- What can cause hypomagnesemia
- How the treatment is done
- How hypomagnesaemia affects calcium and potassium
Hypomagnesemia is a decrease in the amount of magnesium in the blood, usually below 1.5 mg / dl and is a common disorder in hospitalized patients, usually associated with disorders in other minerals, such as calcium and potassium.
Magnesium disorders do not usually cause specific symptoms, but, when associated with calcium and potassium disorders, symptoms such as cramps and tingling are possible.
Thus, treatment must not only correct magnesium levels, and any complications that may arise, but also balance calcium and potassium levels.
Main symptoms
The symptoms of hypomagnesaemia are not specific to this alteration, but are caused by disturbances in other minerals, such as calcium and potassium. Thus, it is possible that symptoms such as:
- Weakness; Anorexia; Vomiting; Tingling; Severe cramps; Seizures.
There may also be cardiac changes especially when there is hypokalemia, which is a decrease in potassium, and if the person does an electrocardiogram, an abnormal trace may appear in the result.
What can cause hypomagnesemia
Hypomagnesemia arises mainly due to a low absorption of magnesium in the intestine or by marked loss of the mineral in the urine. In the first case, the most common is that there are diseases of the intestine that impair the absorption of magnesium, or else it may be the result of a low magnesium diet, as in patients who cannot eat and can only have serum in their veins.
In the case of loss of magnesium in the urine, this can happen by the use of diuretics, which increase the amount of urine eliminated, or by the use of other types of drugs that affect the kidney, such as the antifungal amphotericin b or the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, which can lead to loss of magnesium in the urine.
Chronic alcoholism can also cause hypomagnesaemia in both ways, as it is common to have low magnesium intake in the diet, and alcohol has a direct effect on the elimination of magnesium in the urine.
How the treatment is done
When the magnesium deficit is mild, it is usually only recommended to eat a diet that is richer in magnesium source foods, such as Brazil nuts and spinach, for example. However, when changes in diet alone are not enough, your doctor may advise you to use magnesium supplements or salts. Although they have good effects, these supplements should not be the first option, as they can cause side effects like diarrhea.
Furthermore, since magnesium deficiency does not occur in isolation, it is also necessary to correct deficiencies in potassium and calcium.
In the most severe chaos, in which magnesium levels do not rise easily, the doctor may come to hospital, to administer magnesium sulfate directly into the vein.
How hypomagnesaemia affects calcium and potassium
The decrease in magnesium is often associated with changes in other minerals, causing:
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Low potassium (hypokalemia): it occurs mainly because the causes of hypokalemia and hypomagnesaemia are very similar, that is, when there is one it is very common to have the other as well. In addition, hypomagnesaemia increases the elimination of potassium in the urine, contributing to even lower potassium levels. Learn about hypokalemia and when it happens;
Low calcium (hypocalcemia): it happens because hypomagnesemia causes secondary hypoparathyroidism, that is, it decreases the release of the hormone PTH by parathyroid glands and makes the organs insensitive to PTH, preventing the hormone from acting. The main function of PTH is to keep blood calcium levels normal. Thus, when there is no action of PTH, calcium levels go down. Check out more causes and symptoms of hypocalcemia.
Since hypomagesemia is almost always associated with these changes, the treatment involves correcting not only the levels of magnesium and diseases that may cause it, but also balancing the levels of calcium and potassium.
