Daily supplements of magnesium may improve lung function in asthmatics, and improve their quality of life. Measures of lung capacity increased by about 6 per cent during six months of magnesium supplementation, and improvements were also observed in the bronchial response to methacholine, a chemical that produces constriction of the lungs, according to findings published in the Journal of Asthma.
Epidemiological studies have reported beneficial effects of magnesium on asthma occurrence and management, but less than half of adults in the US consume the recommended levels of the mineral, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for 1999-2000.
The participants were randomly assigned to receive either the a daily dose of 340 milligrams of magnesium or placebo for 6.5 months. At the end of the study, a 6 per cent improvement in lung function, measured as the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), was observed in the magnesium group, and not in the placebo group. Furthermore, 20 per cent more methacholine was needed in the magnesium group to produce bronchoconstriction to the same degree as seen in the placebo group. Quality of life, a subjective measure obtained by questionnaire, only improved in the magnesium group, added the researchers.
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