By Dr. Chauncey Crandall, M.D. From Newsmax

There is evidence that magnesium can help prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD), the largest cause of death in the United States.

One study, published in 2011, looked at data collected from the Nurses’ Health Study of 88,000 women who were followed for 26 years. Researchers analyzed the data to learn whether magnesium played a role in preventing SCD.

Their report, published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that the risk of SCD was significantly lower in women in the highest quartile of magnesium consumption. Women with the highest blood levels of magnesium had a 41 percent lower risk of sudden cardiac death.

A major complication of heart attacks, congestive heart failure, can also occur with aging. Two complications of heart failure are vasoconstriction — narrowing of blood vessels that puts an additional strain on a weak heart — and heartbeat irregularities.

Magnesium can ease both of these complications.

In a study that looked at Finnish male smokers ranging from ages 50 to 69, the men who consumed the most magnesium had a 15 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke over a 14-year follow-up period.

Ischemic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain becomes blocked, is the most common type. The research was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

When most people cite the causes of high blood pressure, they talk about smoking, lack of exercise, and a diet high in salt as the major contributing factors. Rarely is magnesium mentioned.

But studies show that magnesium deficiency is a very common cause of high blood pressure. Magnesium helps relax the muscles that control blood vessels. This allows the blood to flow more freely, reducing blood pressure. In addition, magnesium helps equalize the levels of potassium and sodium in the blood, which also lowers blood pressure.

In a study published in 2012 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from England reviewed 22 clinical trials involving 1,173 people to assess the effect of magnesium on blood pressure.

They found that magnesium supplementation resulted in a small but significant reduction in blood pressure, and that the more magnesium that was taken, the greater the reduction.

Dr. Chauncey W. Crandall is author of Dr. Crandall’s Heart Health Report newsletter. He is a Yale graduate and is chief of the Cardiac Transplant Program at the world-renowned Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He practices interventional, vascular, and transplant cardiology.