Magnesium linked to lower BP in older women

Women who receive higher amounts of daily magnesium, either from their diet or supplements, have a modestly lower risk for hypertension, according to a report in the December issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

Yiqing Song, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues examined the relationship between magnesium intake and hypertension using data from 28,349 professional women, aged 45 or older, enrolled in the Women's Health Study. Overall, 8,544 developed hypertension during a median follow-up of 9.8 years.

The researchers found that hypertension risk was inversely related to magnesium intake, with a high daily median intake of 434 mg cutting hypertension risk by 13% compared with those consuming the lowest amount of magnesium. After multivariate adjustments, the relationship was more modest-about a 7% reduction in the highest intake group compared with the lowest-but still significant.

Song Y, Sesso HD, Manson J, et al. Dietary magnesium intake and risk of incident hypertension among middle-aged and older US women in a 10-year follow-up study. Am J Cardiol. 2006;98:1616-1621.