Patriot Health Digest
A Cheap and Simple Depression Treatment?
A while back, 126 individuals that were diagnosed with depression that ranged from mild to moderate were each provided a bottle of pills. Then they were told to take one tablet each day as a treatment for depression.
Two weeks later, 50 percent of those treated reported feeling a little less depressed. Four weeks after that, those same participants reported feeling a lot better. Their depression symptoms had lessened. Anxiety had been reduced as well. The other half of participants had no improvements at all.
So, what could be happening here? Well, these individuals were part of a new research study looking at the role magnesium plays in depression. Half of the participants had taken cheap magnesium that was the over-the-counter brand, and the other half was the control group, which took a placebo. The users that took magnesium felt much better.
Is Depression a Magnesium Deficiency?
Prescription antidepressants might be harsh, with some side effects like emotional numbness, sexual problems, and suicidal thoughts that were reported by about 50 percent of all users.
If people with mild symptoms could get off the prescription medications, and if individuals with moderate symptoms could lower the amount that they use, that would be a great development. Can magnesium supplementation be the answer?
Well, it isn’t as simple as “magnesium can cure depression” – although some medical professionals have been claiming that since at least 1967 – but it is pretty clear that being deficient in magnesium can exacerbate the problem.
We have known for a while now that magnesium deficiency is connected to depression, inflammation and anxiety. But this is one of the first randomized clinical trials to really test the ability of magnesium to control or reduce the symptoms of depression.
Perhaps not coincidentally, many people today have at least a little deficiency in magnesium, and it has been estimated that 15 million U.S. adults suffer from depression. That is almost 7% of the American population.
Can this simply be the result of a widespread magnesium deficiency? We can at least say that these two are related.
Author: Blake Ambrose
