Magnesium Levels Linked to Dementia Risk

Low and high levels of serum magnesium are associated with increased risk of all-cause dementia, according to the results of a recent study.

For their study, researchers examined data from 9569 participants in the prospective population-based Rotterdam Study who were free from dementia at baseline. The mean age of the participants was 64.9 years and 56.6% were women. Subsequent dementia was defined using DSM-III-R criteria. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to associate quintiles of serum magnesium with incident all-cause dementia.
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During a median follow-up of 7.8 years, 823 participants were diagnosed with all-cause dementia. The researchers observed that both low (≤0.79 mmol/L) and high (≥0.90 mmol/L) serum magnesium levels were associated with increased risk of dementia (hazard ratio 1.32 and hazard ratio 1.30, respectively).

“Both low and high serum magnesium levels are associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia. Our results warrant replication in other population-based studies,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Kieboom BCT, Licher S, Wolters FJ, et al. Serum magnesium is associated with the risk of dementia [published online September 20, 2017]. Neurology. doi: http:/​/​dx.​doi.​org/​10.​1212/​WNL.​0000000000004517.