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Arrhythmia is a condition where the heart beats irregularly (skipped or half beats), too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia). It can feel like light flutters starting in the left ventricle of the heart, and if the issue isn’t addressed, over time it can progress to atrial fibrillation, an irregular beat of the main atrium of the heart. This can cause a panic response with extra adrenalin and rapid heart beats. It can lead to heart attack if the condition becomes severe enough.

We can use the skin to deliver large amounts of magnesium very safely and effectively in order to avoid crisis and maintain optimum magnesium status.  The skin, being the largest organ of the body and part of the integumentary system (skin, hair, nails, bones, teeth), can act as a reservoir to store magnesium where the body may draw from it what it needs in a self-regulating manner. 

As neuropathic pain is strongly correlated with magnesium deficiency and the associated hyper-inflammatory state, researchers have discovered that supplementary magnesium can directly affect the nerve recovery process to alleviate peripheral neuropathy.

A magnesium bath using epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) is better than nothing, but over time the sulphate strips out too much oil from the skin, leaving it feeling dry and itchy (like a detergent does). Magnesium sulphate also only has 9% elemental magnesium, but our magnesium chloride flakes have 15-16%. Magnesium chloride is also kinder to skin.  Overall, magnesium chloride is more effective and offers better value.

As magnesium is an essential component of the electrical nervous system, it’s like running out of spark plugs so there is nothing to ignite the engine to burn the fuel and perform tasks. It’s like unplugging your battery power.  If you don’t have enough electrical ‘juice’ running through your system, it will slow down accordingly.

Kidney (renal) disease can also cause magnesium deficiency as the tubules become stiffer with ageing and don’t recycle magnesium as well as they used to. If your kidneys lose too many alkalising minerals, it gets harder to control pH balance and the acids take over.

Hormones greatly influence our growth and development, health, behaviours, metabolism, sex life and fertility. Pretty well everything we do and experience in life is governed by the chemical messages of hormones. As we get into our more mature and senior years, or are young but chronically stressed, our energy and hormone production can become out of balance, acidic, oxygen-deprived and dehydrated.  In this article I will focus on magnesium's effect on catecholamines (stress hormones), including cortisol, adrenaline and aldosterone, which are produced by the adrenal glands and directly affect the cardiovascular system.

Chronic or severe stress is a known risk factor for metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity and heart disease, because stress is the biggest contributor to magnesium loss and deficiency.  Magnesium deficiency leads to metabolic syndrome, which progresses to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Both magnesium and massage therapy have important health benefits for blood circulation, waste clearance and muscle recovery, as well as alleviation of anxiety and stress. Magnesium massage supercharges health benefits by promoting pain relief, stress relief, faster recovery from injury, bolstering the immune system, and prevention of premature ageing. 

Clotting disorders are more prevalent in those with cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetic acidosis.  These metabolic issues are also strongly associated with chronic magnesium deficiency. 

I was over 50 when menopause set in, accompanied by an autoimmune disorder called Hashimotos Hypothyroidism, severe heart arrhythmia, and the emerging white patches on my skin. This form of autoimmune hypothyroidism is thought to be prevalent in about 5% of the world’s population, however I believe the numbers are growing as people become more chemically sensitive to pollutants that stress the thyroid.

Magnesium is so important to cardiovascular function, its scarcity being correlated with the development of cardiovascular disease, that it has become the focus of intense scientific study and review over recent years.  A meta-analysis review of epidemiological studies published in 2017 concluded that magnesium intake is associated with lower risk of major cardiovascular risk factors such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes and hypertension, as well as incidence of stroke and total cardiovascular disease.  Higher levels of circulating magnesium are also associated with lower risk of heart disease, mainly ischemic and coronary heart disease.

Transdermal magnesium absorption means that magnesium ions (electrolytes) can pass into the epidermis (outer layer) of the skin, which acts as a nutritional reservoir until the tiny capillaries of the dermis underneath can absorb nutrients as required. From this skin reservoir the body may also absorb the vitamin D it made when you got some sunshine on your skin.

Magnesium is the one mineral we lose most of under stressful conditions and will directly affect our longevity if we don’t have enough of it.  It’s also the mineral we need a lot of in order to relax and recover from stress.  Magnesium is used by mitochondria to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate), our cellular energy currency.   It is therefore absolutely essential to all electrical function in the body.  Every message sent by our nervous system, every detoxification event, every action of our immune system and all building of new cells relies on magnesium to give it power.

Whether you are a professional athlete or a gym junkie, if you think you are doing your health a lot of good with over-exercise, then think again.  It can cause serious harm in the case of magnesium deficiency.  In some cases over-exercise or over-training has even resulted in cardiac arrest and death on the track.

Magnesium chloride flakes (magnesium chloride hexahydrate) are natural mineral salts that are completely water soluble and able to be absorbed by cells without further digestion.  Adding these salts to your bath is a natural way to boost your magnesium uptake and provides much more magnesium to your muscles and bone cells than oral tablets and powders.   Magnesium chloride flakes derive from ocean, salt lakes or dried up salt pockets sandwiched in rock strata.