Study: Magnesium citrate improves vision with normot -pro -performance glaucoma

reference

aydin B, Onol M, Hondur a, et al. The effect of oral magnesium therapy on the field of vision and the blood flow to the eye with normotive glaucoma. EUR J Ophthalmol. 2010; 20 (1): 131-135.

design

Controlled clinical study to assess the effect of oral magnesium therapy on eye blood flow and the visual field perimetrie indices in patients with normotive glaucoma (NTG). The measurement of the magnesium level in the blood, a visual field analysis and a colored dopper imaging of the eye socket vessels were carried out before treatment and after one month.

participant

Fifteen patients with NTG (study group) received 300 mg oral magnesium citrate for a month, while 15 patients with NTG (control group) received no treatment.

most important findings

In the study group, the field of views improved clearly: The mean deviation improved from -3,7 +/- 1.9 (mean +/- standard deviation) at the beginning of the study to -2.5 +/- 1.8 after one month ( p <0.05) and the sample standard deviation improved from 3,6 +/- 2.3 2.8 +/- 2.6 after 1 month ( p <0.05). The indices of the colored dopper imaging did not change after magnesium therapy. Other mechanisms than an increased blood flow to the eye can be responsible for improving the field of vision through oral magnesium therapy.

Effects on the practice

A glaucoma reflects damage from the optic nerve. Glaucoma can lead to a gradual loss of peripheral eyesight, which leads to a tunnel view and finally to blindness. Usually the damage to the optic nerve is caused by an increased pressure in the eye, which is created by a greater production as the discharge of the eye fluid (the chamber water). The normal intraocular pressure (iodine) is about 10 to 21 mm hg. In chronic glaucoma, the intraocular pressure is usually slightly to moderately increased (22 to 40 mm Hg). In acute glaucoma, the intraocular pressure is more than 40 mm ed.

In some cases, glaucoma develops in people with normal intraocular pressure. This form, known as low -pressure glaucoma or normotive glaucoma, accounts for about 25 to 30 percent of all glaucoma in the United States.

Low -pressure glaucoma or normotive glaucoma accounts for about 25 to 30 percent of all glaucoma.

Since an increased intraocular pressure is not a factor at NTG, other factors are responsible for the damage to the optic nerve. The proposed causes include:

• reduced blood flow
• formerly nervous death
• nerve irritation
• excessive glutamate production
• autoimmune disease

The disease occurs more often in women than in men and affects adults of average age of 60 years. A frequent risk factor for NGT is low blood pressure.

This study, which shows advantages when improving the field of vision after an oral magnesium supplement, is of great importance, since NTG cannot be effectively treated with conventional medication. It also stimulates thinking, since an action mechanism has to be identified.

Since the advantages of magnesium therapy are not due to changes in blood flow, it is possible that the benefit is related to the reduction of increased glutamate concentrations in the extracellular rooms around the optic nerve. Glutamat is an important exciting neurotransmitter and an important neurotoxin that promotes neural cell death. It is definitely connected to NTG. Since magnesium demonstrably stimulates the blockade of neuronal receptors, which leads to a reduction in glutamate release during an ischemia, ¹ This mechanism could also explain its advantages at NTG.