MAGNESIUM AND CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME.

While proponents and skeptics debate whether chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a distinct entity, researchers continue to search for organic correlates. Cox and colleagues decided . . .

While proponents and skeptics debate whether chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a distinct entity, researchers continue to search for organic correlates. Cox and colleagues decided to study the role of magnesium after hearing of anecdotal reports that some patients with CFS were responding to magnesium supplements.

They first measured red-blood-cell magnesium (a better indicator of body stores than plasma magnesium) in 20 controls and 20 patients with CFS diagnosed according to published criteria. Red-cell magnesium was only modestly lower in the CFS patients, but the difference was statistically significant. Next, in a randomized trial, the researchers gave six weekly intramuscular injections of magnesium or placebo to 32 patients with CFS a…

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