Neuro-Mag Review

 

MAGNESIUM AND OSTEOPOROSIS

 

The original question on Amazon asked, “I’ve been on neuro-mag (sic) for 3 months and love it. I was recently told that I may have osteoporosis. Is L-threonate going to help my bones?”

Neuro-Mag is the trade name by Life Extension Labs for their formulation of Magnesium threonate, a highly bioavailable form of magnesium that crosses the blood-brain barrier, unlike other formulations of the mineral. I take Neuro-Mag and love it. It creates calmness within me, and has a lower risk of diarrhea, one of the more unpleasant side-effects of magnesium supplementation. I also have no financial interest in either Life Extension or any other supplement manufacturer. As always, follow my advice with a jaundiced eye, and run any of my recommendations by your health care provider before starting ANYTHING new.

Elemental magnesium is vital for many physiological processes, including energy production, muscle and nerve function, and bone strength. I take the supplement because it is essential to functioning cardiac muscles and because I am starting to have slight problems with my memory. The most obvious issue is word searching, or the “it’s at the tip of my tongue” phenomenon. It also lowers blood pressure by relaxing the smooth muscle that lines the interiors of our arteries. But to specifically answer the question, I am going to quote the National Institutes of Health:

Magnesium is important for healthy bones. People with higher intakes of magnesium have a higher bone mineral density, which is important in reducing the risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis. Getting more magnesium from foods or dietary supplements might help older women improve their bone mineral density. More research is needed to better understand whether magnesium supplements can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis or treat this condition.¹

Dosing of supplementation has been established through research. Three capsules of Neuro-Mag provide 144 mg of elemental magnesium. That is my current dose: one capsule in the morning and two at night. Not only is it calming as a sleep aid, but I would much rather have diarrhea while I am close to a toilet! The second link below lists the proven benefits of magnesium.²

The following chart lists the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) based on sex, age, and pregnancy/lactation status. Remember to always run it by your provider first: ³

Category	Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
CHILDREN
1-3 years	80 mg/day
4-8 years	130 mg/day
9-13 years	240 mg/day
FEMALES
14-18 years	360 mg/day
19-30 years	310 mg/day
31 years and over	320 mg/day
Pregnant	Under 19 years: 400 mg/day 19 to 30 years: 350 mg/day 31 years and up: 360 mg/day
Breastfeeding	Under 19 years: 360 mg/day 19 to 30 years: 310 mg/day 31 years and up: 320 mg/day
MALES
14-18 years	410 mg/day
19-30 years	400 mg/day
31 years and up	420 mg/day

 1. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-Consumer/ 

2. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-magnesium-benefits

3. https://www.webmd.com/diet/supplement-guide-magnesium#

   

 

On the Road of Rage

My Quora Answer to "Why do people behind you honk at you when you are turning left and waiting for a car to go by in the opposite lane?"

Because some people are addicted to anger. Vehicles become weapons for some, and road rage is a mental illness. Based on my own experiences, I found an inner calm about all aspects of my life, not just driving, when I deliberately decided not to engage in road rage at all. Someone cut you off? Perhaps they are trying to get to the hospital to see a loved one. Someone changed lanes while you were trying to pass? Maybe she was dealing with her child's temper tantrum and didn't see you.

The only thing I do not tolerate is tailgating since that person is not only putting you at risk but also themselves and any passengers. It is the only time I will engage in the passive-aggressive “road rage behavior” of slowing down.

https://cb.run/v1nt

Getting Personal With Medicine

As you know, one of the aims of the second half of my career is making medicine available and understandable to everyone. That is the reason I wrote How To Think Like a Doctor and Como Pensar Como un Doctor, and the reason I am here in Nicaragua teaching medicine to providers at all levels of experience. It is also one of the reasons why I write this blog.

One problem with modern (Western) medicine is that we physicians tend to treat individuals as groups of people. Medications are tested on large populations; they are approved for mass consumption; and side-effects are noted for "common" reactions. Not all medical traditions treat people like this. Chinese and Indian  medicine (Ayurvedic) for example, take an individualized approach to health care. In other words, what works best for YOU?

We used to tease that Rheumatology was the discipline of treating the untreatable. Which means people were dosed with medications that caused HUGE problems, like corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's). Don't get me wrong: I love Western medicine and I'm impressed with modern medical technologies. What I don't like is the shotgun, or in the case of the U.S., cannonball approach to therapy. And secondarily, I don't like being told by mainstream physicians and the government that that is the only way to treat people.

That is now going to change. It first started in the 1990's or the "Decade of the Brain" when neurologists and psychiatrists decided to focus on what happens inside our heads in addition to what we manifest as speech and behavior. This line of research continues at such places as the Amen Clinics, where therapy is prescribed only after a definitive diagnosis is made, only after a full history is taken (including input from family and friends), and a full physical exam is performed. Additionally, brain-imaging studies are now used to narrow down the possible diagnoses, and the patient can then be treated with the medication, dose, and timing specific for THAT individual  patient.

Which brings me to the crux of today's blog. A friend of mine works at a company that uses genetic tests to determine proper medication use for a whole host of "regrettable maladies," from breast cancer to depression. Yes, depression. Remember Dr. Mangold's Rule of Psychiatry: in the long run, psychiatric problems are neurological issues. Check out the site if you can. They are located at http://www.pgxlab.com/about/. Print up their brochure and bring it to your doctor if you think you can benefit from their testing. Make sure your doctor is listening.

PARACHUTING IN CIRCLES

Stream of consciousness tonight. Watched "The Hobbit" with the Young Padawan, the Cowboy, Blair Corbett of Ark of Hope fame, and Gimli, son of Gloin. The Cheshire Cat would pounce in and out of the viewing area while the Cowboy seemed to think that the chair and his bed were interchangeable living arrangements.

Gandalf healed Thorin with prayer. In my practice, that occurred 10% of the time. Can I prove it? No. Prove I'm wrong.

Angie once bragged that her brother was a great photographer because he had a lot of great photography equipment. I still won't let her live that one down. In photography as in medicine, there are paths of knowledge where critical factors overlap. My own father was a professional photographer. One of my best friends was the photographer extraordinaire Dan Harris. They both trained on high-tech equipment (the more they learned, the techier it became. Did I invent another word?).They could also take outdated equipment and playfully create works of art.

Using whatever equipment you have available, and trying to make a diagnosis is similar. It CAN be done with the most expensive toys found in any hospital. Trust me, they won't be in your local clinic. It can also be done through listening to a patient carefully and doing a thorough physical examination. The use of extra tests usually serves to verify a good physician's suspicions. A bad physician will run batteries of tests to arrive at something. Anything. There is an old saying in medicine that if you run enough tests, eventually you will find something abnormal.

Abnormal. What if there was a test that created "abnormals" that were ill-defined and vague. How do you interpret that and how do you treat that? Aurora Health Care in Southeast Wisconsin discovered how to do that AND make money doing it: http://m.jsonline.com/features/health/113541984.html?dc=smart&c=y&ua=blackberry. We heard of these tricks Aurora was pulling when an ostracized cardiologist came to our clinic and repeated to us what he saw with his own eyes. When he complained about it, he was let go unceremoniously and lives with the bitterness of knowing that there is no "Employer Retaliation" protection against whistleblowers in the state of Wisconsin. The state brags there is. Believe me, there isn't.

I will be parachuting for the first time next week. No, I will not have a Golden Parachute like the ex-CEO of Aurora whose termination package amounted to more than $20 million. Ironically, the company stopped construction recently of one facility because they were $20 million behind in projected costs.

So the take home message today is this: hospitals are not the hospitals our grandparents and even parents knew when they were younger. They are hospital systems and their bottom line is profit. Second in line, image. Third, helping people get better. A physician's and nurse's bottom line is making people better. Profit should come second. Sometimes job security or the security of a steady paycheck has more pull than pure profit. Sometimes profit wins but really, it is patient care.

Say a prayer for me on the 23rd when I sky dive for the first time in my life. I hope my knees can take it.