By Andrea Rosanff, PhD
Director of Research and Science Education Outreach
Center for Magnesium Education & Research

When an individual takes a supplement, and gets a positive result, modern science is not impressed—it is called “anecdotal evidence”. This is an age of statistical study, and it is the placebo-controlled, statistically tested clinical study that holds sway in today’s world.

However, this was not always the case: medical science has been largely built upon what has always been known as the “case study” -- observations on an individual patient as to what treatment was tried and what happened as a result. In other words, anecdotal evidence.

The reality is that both types of medical research – the case study and statistically analyzed clinical trial – can be both useful and not useful. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. An individual practitioner can make use of both types of evidence when facing an individual patient or client.

It is in response to this reality that we offer a space where “case studies” of nutritional magnesium supplementation or a high Magnesium food diet can be collected and shared. We invite individuals and practitioners to submit their case study, including those with positive as well as negative results of the supplementation and/or high Magnesium diet.

The Weakness of Statistical Clinical Studies

In these types of studies, it is quite rare for ALL subjects to respond either positively or negatively to a given treatment. Nonetheless, a treatment is deemed “effective” if a statistically significant portion of those treated respond positively compared with a placebo group. .

If, in a statistical trial, it is found that 70% of subjects respond positively to a given treatment while only 10% of the placebo group responded positively, it is generalized that 60% of similar patients can be expected to react positively to the same treatment while 10% would so react due to the placebo effect. Out of ten similar patients, a practicing physician has no idea if an individual patient is one of the six deemed to respond successfully to the given treatment, the one in ten who will respond with a placebo effect or one of the three who will not respond at all to the treatment.

Human genetics is lending precision to this statistical reality, but has not yet been made available to the practicing physician. Even so, given a certain genetic “group”, individuals can still be expected to show “statistical variance” when given a particular treatment. After all, we are all genetically and/or environmentally unique.

Case Studies

PMDD and Magnesium

Magnesium and Headaches