Magnesium Helps Recovery After Bypass Surgery

By Hans R. Larsen MSc ChE

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. Patients having undergone coronary bypass surgery often suffer from ventricular dysrhythmias and decreased stroke volume immediately after the operation. Medical doctors at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore have now found that supplementation with magnesium markedly decreases the frequency of these serious complications. One hundred patients were studied over a 6-month period; 50 were given an intravenous infusion of magnesium chloride (2 grams) immediately after the operation while the other 50 were given a placebo. The magnesium treated patients suffered significantly fewer ventricular dysrhythmias (16% vs. 34%) than did the untreated patients.

Journal of the American Medical Association, November 4, 1992, pp. 2395-2402