VIEWPOINT FROM CLINICAL PRACTICE muscles and joints , but also invades the central nervous system and alters how the brain processes pain , leading to hypersensitivity , anxiety , insomnia , excessive emotionality , and even depression . In other words , excessive pain and stress are very depressive .
The lower the magnesium reserves , the more prone people become to hypersensitivity , because magnesium modulates the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal ( HPA ) axis . 1 Excessive stress can induce states of chronic anxiety , and that anxiety is itself an extra stress load on the nervous system . One response begets the other , looping back again as entrapment in a kind of revolving door process .
When the stress load has gone too far for too long , not enough resources are available to complete full recovery , and inflammation in the body , including the central nervous system , grows . “ When a certain stress-tolerance-level is exceeded , the hypothalamic PVN [ Paraventricular Nucleus ] can become an epicentre for microglia-induced activation and neuroinflammation , affecting the hypothalamus and its proximal limbic system , which would account for the range of reported ME / CFS-like symptoms .” 2
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder also shares the same pattern of symptoms . It is another example of excessive stress depressing the immune system , which then invites CFS symptoms along with neuroinflammation . It should be noted that stress alone can trigger CFS-like symptoms , without necessarily involving a viral infection first . However , viral infections have often been a co-factor due to the vulnerability of the immune system as a result of excessive stress .
It can be difficult to distinguish between cause and effect in the stressinflammation process , as these triggers and symptoms form a feedback-loop : stress causes chronic pain and fatigue , and pain in turn becomes another stress that furthers depletion of the immune response .
To make matters even more complex , these CFS-like or Long COVID symptoms are not confined to those suffering malnutrition , old age or disease states such as diabetes , but can be experienced also by fit athletes in their prime in some circumstances ( e . g . if they have over-trained and therefore over-stressed themselves , that is , they have induced a state that weakens the immune system ). While moderate and regular exercise can partially stimulate the immune response ( via increased lymph and blood circulation , and oxygenation ), intense exercise ( without adequate recovery ) may trigger immunosuppression due to excessive stress depleting magnesium reserves .
Magnesium deficiency , and consequential weakening of the immune system , is thus aggravated . It makes athletes who over-train more prone to viral infection , further depleting immunity .
Recovery can become a long road . In a longitudinal assessment in university athletes it was found that , “ Both aerobic and anaerobic exercise variables are seriously affected by post-viral fatigue syndrome , and one year may not be sufficient to fully recover .” 3
Potential causes :
• Chronic or traumatic stress trigger
• Weakened immunity
• Viral or toxic exposure
• Magnesium deficiency . Even subclinical tissue levels of magnesium can have deleterious effects . Muscles and bones contain 99 % of the body ’ s magnesium supply , with only 1 % of magnesium in the blood . Plasma levels of magnesium decline only after the tissue levels have become severely depleted . Measurement of plasma levels therefore does not accurately reflect the tissue levels of magnesium . For this reason , magnesium deficiency often evades detection and is left undiagnosed . A good guide to magnesium deficiency is to look for clusters of magnesium deficiency symptoms . Red blood cells can also be analysed . However , many health practitioners prefer the tissue analysis of EXA testing ( an assay for intracellular mineral electrolyte deficiencies or imbalances ).
Magnesium deficiency can cause metabolic syndrome , diabetes , obesity and heart disease
Researchers have now identified magnesium as being involved in over 600 enzyme reactions and even more when one considers the many cofactoring roles with other nutrients . Magnesium regulates calcium , and is absolutely essential in mitochondrial metabolism . Magnesium is associated with insulin sensitivity , production of ATP , and therefore energy production . A deficiency in magnesium is associated with a low-oxygen , acidic and toxic state , which are the inflammatory conditions of metabolic syndrome , diabetes , obesity and heart disease . In fact , it has been shown in several studies that magnesium deficiency puts people at high risk of developing metabolic diseases .
The lower the magnesium , the more sugar-sensitive and insulin-sensitive people become . Once inflammation with magnesium deficiency sets in , pH becomes hard to control and stabilise , leading to acidosis . However , the more optimal the magnesium reserves , the less likely metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance become . There is an inverse relationship , like a see-saw effect .
Magnesium is by far the master mineral , having its greatest influence on energy metabolism , which drives all biological systems . By the time you see calcium or potassium deficiency symptoms , magnesium will already have dropped below normal .
Magnesium also has a great affinity with water and so is essential in cell hydration and electrical activity . It participates in enzyme and protein synthesis ( including the antioxidant and detoxification enzymes of glutathione and superoxide dismutase ), as well as the carrying of oxygen in haemoglobin .
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