Hi Susan,
I'm just finally coming back to your note that Magtein was involved in a retraction. Any follow-on conversation about magnesium should be continued in a different thread, but I wanted to note here a discrepancy I noticed about Magtein with respect to retractions. According to ConsumerLab it's a different article that was retracted, but questions remain as to why a follow-up study of Magtein in humans hasn't been published. Dr. Bredesen's Feb 2015 update lists 'magnesium threonate 1000-2000 per day'. This is the type of magnesium in Magtein, but it appears there are other sources of it too. My Source Naturals 'Magtein' includes 144 mg of non-Magtein magnesium threonate with the 2 gm of Magtein.
Here's the thing. When I go back to retraction watch I can't find that in the Alzheimer's results, and when I search RW for it nothing comes up.
ConsumerLab has a question and answer about this topic .:
Do magnesium supplements help memory or protect against Alzheimer's disease?
Answer:
It’s true that magnesium plays an important role in brain cell functioning, and some preliminary studies suggest it may influence certain neural processes important for cognition (Slutsky, Neuron 2004; Hoane, Magnes Res 2008; Abumaria, J Neurosci 2011). However, it is unclear how much magnesium from supplementation reaches the brain, and there are no published clinical studies showing magnesium supplementation improves learning or memory, or protects against Alzheimer’s disease, in humans.
Much of the interest in magnesium supplements for these uses stems from a single study (funded in part by the maker of magnesium supplement Magtein™) that found rats given a particular form of magnesium , magnesium-L-threonate, performed significantly better on tests of long and short term memory (Slutsky, Neuron 2010). Magnesium-L-threonate also enhanced signaling of a specific part of brain receptors associated the ability to store information. The other forms of magnesium tested, including magnesium chloride, magnesium citrate, magnesium glycinate, and magnesium gluconate, were not as efficient at raising magnesium levels in the central nervous system (as measured by levels in cerebrospinal fluid) and did not improve memory as well as magnesium-L-threonate. (Magtein's distributor, AIDP, Inc. claimed in 2011 that data from a human study would be published in 2012. As this has not been published as of mid-2014, ConsumerLab.com corresponded with AIDP which replied that "The study has been completed and is being prepared for publication.") (Update: As of January 7, 2015, no study appears to have been published in a peer-reviewed journal).
Another animal study that has been cited as evidence of magnesium’s role in preserving memory and potentially preventing Alzheimer’s disease (Wei, J Neurosci 2013) was retracted one year after publication due to calculation errors.
The bottom line: Magnesium plays an important role in brain cell function and some preliminary research suggests it may influence cognitive functions like memory and learning in animals, however, there is no evidence that taking magnesium supplements improves memory or learning, or prevents Alzheimer's disease in humans.
Magnesium supplements may be helpful for other conditions, like hearing loss and migraine, and use of certain medications can lower magnesium levels in the body. To learn more, including conditions and medications that may deplete magnesium levels, information about dosage, potential side effects, and tests of popular magnesium supplements, see the Magnesium Supplements Review >>
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Comment on Post
Paul3756 June 7, 2015
Wei's retracted article concluded that "Our results suggest that elevation of brain magnesium exerts substantial synaptoprotective effects in a mouse model of AD and may have therapeutic potential for treating AD in humans."
However the retraction stated that "we discovered errors in the quantification of the expression and/or phosphorylation of a subset of signaling pathways, particularly related to Figures 4 and 5D. Despite these errors, the major conclusions of the paper remain substantiated."
So it appears there are two rat model studies supporting this supplement…
It's unfortunate that the human study is overdue…
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.