Can magnesium supplementation reduce seizures in people with epilepsy?
The cute dog pictured above is my brother's dog Angus who has epilepsy... and he is in part being managed by Magnesium ( he is not on any conventional anti-seizure medications!)
This comes from a published paper, and seems very applicable to our dogs and cats.
Yuen AW1, Sander JW.
Dept of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK. alan@yuen.co.uk
Abstract
Magnesium is required for over 300 enzyme systems and is critical for many cellular functions including oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis, DNA transcription and protein synthesis. Studies suggest that the modern Western diet and lifestyle may lead to magnesium deficiency, and this appears to be associated with a wide range of medical conditions.
Magnesium deficiency decreases seizure thresholds in animal models of epilepsy and indeed low magnesium concentration in the perfusate is a common method of generating spontaneous epileptiform discharges from rat hippocampal slices.
Magnesium is a potential modulator of seizure activity because of its ability to antagonize excitation through the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor.
Some studies have shown that people with epilepsy have lower magnesium levels than people without epilepsy.
There are case reports of seizures being controlled with magnesium supplementation in people with specific conditions, and recently in an open randomized trial, children with infantile spasms responded better to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) plus magnesium than to ACTH alone.
We hypothesise that magnesium supplementation can reduce seizures in people with epilepsy.
This hypothesis can be tested in a controlled randomised supplementation trial. If proven, magnesium supplementation needs to be considered in the overall management of people with refractory epilepsy.
Magnesium is inexpensive, safe to give at appropriate doses.
It is used for people as a sleep aid...so can calm your hyperactive dog.
It is also used as a laxative at higher doses...so start slowly.
Here are some suggested doses
Magnesium citrate (400 mg)
Dosage:0 to 10 kg 1 capsule per 2 days
10 to 20 kg 1 capsules per day
> 20 kg 2 capsules per day
