Does Magnesium Deficiency Cause Mitral Valve Prolapse?

The mitral valve is one of the valves of the heart that keeps blood flowing in the proper direction when the heart beats and pushes the blood into the next chamber. Mitral Valve Prolapse is a common problem where the ‘leaflets’ of this valve don’t fit perfectly together and can lead to an abnormal backflowing of blood that causes problems in some people that experience this condition.

There have been a large number of studies showing that people with mitral valve prolapse have magnesium deficiency, but it’s extremely interesting to note that some studies have shown that chronic magnesium deficiency may have actually been the cause of the mitral valve prolapse in the first place!

“Magnesium deficiency may also lead to alteration of collagen synthesis and subsequent degeneration of mitral valve leaflets.”

‘Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome and Magnesium Supplementation’

Symptoms of Mitral Valve Prolapse

When mitral valve prolapse causes symptoms that affect people’s lives, then it is often termed Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome (MVPS) and it can lead to problems such as:

* Shortness of breath

* Chest pain

* Heart Palpitations

* Activity intolerance

* Anxiety

These symptoms can really affect people’s lives in a negative way on a day to day basis. Those with MVPS go to the emergency room frequently and can sometimes feel that they are dying due to their severe symptoms.

The Magnesium Connection

There have been MANY studies showing that those with mitral valve prolapse often have low Magnesium Levels in their blood. This is especially interesting since blood magnesium levels are almost worthless and only show magnesium deficiency when levels are EXTREMELY low. This leads me to believe that if accurate intracellular magnesium testing (an accurate way to do magnesium testing) were used that even higher numbers of those with MVPS would show functional magnesium deficiency.

Several studies also show that these same people have fewer symptoms and better quality of life when they take magnesium supplementation on a regular basis. While this is interesting, it’s not very surprising to those who are familiar with the Signs of Magnesium Deficiency and actually see everyday that these types of symptoms, whether related to MVPS or not, resolve when high doses of magnesium are taken.

What IS interesting, however, is that some studies suggest that the magnesium deficiency may not be a result of the mitral valve prolapse, but that the mitral valve prolapse may actually have been CAUSED by the Magnesium Deficiency! This is possible because magnesium is required for the proper formation of collagen and collagen is a major component of heart valves. Therefore, a disruption of collagen formation could affect a wide variety of structures in the body, with heart valves only being one example.

Another example is the damage that is done to tendons when a class of drugs called Quinolone Antibiotics are taken. These drugs cause magnesium to be ‘chelated’ from the body and some people experience connective tissue pain, damage and even full tendon rupture after taking these drugs. My extensive studies have shown that the lack of magnesium causes many of the problems that make one vulnerable to this condition known as Levaquin Tendonitis.

But these studies that are showing that magnesium may actually disrupt collagen formation leading to Mitral Valve Prolapse makes me even more convinced that those susceptible to Levaquin Tendonitis likely have had a chronic magnesium deficit with subsequent collagen disruption for many many years before they were damaged by these antibiotics.

These findings make me more and more convinced that Dr. Carolyn Dean of The Magnesium Miracle and Dr. Mark Sircus the author of ‘Magnesium Medicine’ are correct in their assessment that magnesium deficiency is an ‘epidemic’ that is simply being overlooked by those in the health care industry due to their inability to recognize the many many symptoms of deficiency of this nutrient and the fact that the tests that they are using are outdated and completely inaccurate. If YOU are experiencing chronic health problems, could they be due to magnesium deficiency?