What is hypermagnesemia - Definition of hypermagnesemia

Aug 24, 2014 Home › Hypermagnesemia causes › Magnesium deficiency symptoms › What is hypermagnesemia? - Definition of hypermagnesemia

What is hypermagnesemia?
Hypermagnesemia is a disorder of serum electrolyte balance caused by the abnormally high concentration of magnesium in the blood. Hypermagnesemia is a rare medical condition, occurring in patients with impaired kidney function.

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Persons taking excess of laxatives containing magnesium and pregnant women undergoing treatment for preeclampsia or eclampsia with magnesium sulfate infusion are prone to develop this electrolyte imbalance.

The disturbance in electrolyte balance of magnesium may cause concurrent disorders like hypocalcemia and/or hyperkalemia. The normal range of serum magnesium levels is 1.8-2.6 mg/dL. In a normal healthy person excess ingestion of magnesium does not give rise to any health problems as the excess quantity is stored in the bones and/or excreted in urine and feces. Renal insufficiency, hyperparathyroidism and prolonged severe constipation are precipitating factors for the disorder when abnormal quantity of magnesium is ingested or infused. The upward disturbance in
magnesium homeostasis can cause a variety of symptoms of hypermagnesemia.

Hypermagnesemia web definition

Merriam-webster.com definition: "the presence of excess magnesium in the blood serum."

Medterms.com definition: "Excess magnesium in the blood."

Drugs.com definition: "An abnormally large concentration of magnesium in the blood serum."

What causes hypermagnesemia?

As earlier said, hypermagnesemia is caused by excess concentration of magnesium in the blood.

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In a normal person increase in the magnesium levels does not arise as the excess ingestion/infusion is excreted by the kidney. In case of kidney insufficiency or failure, the excretion of the mineral is hampered and its serum levels increase.

What are the symptoms of hypermagnesemia?

Depending upon the severity of increase, various symptoms appear in the patient.

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Mild abnormal elevation in levels show symptoms like general lethargy and hypotension. Nausea, decreased respiratory rate, decreased reflexes, hypoxic encephalopathy, bradycardia, arrhythmia, asystole and cardiac arrest are the progressive symptoms and effects.

Hypermagnesemia treatment and management

The first step in controlling the increase in levels of the mineral is by limiting the inputs.

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Emergency hemodialysis is carried out to flushed out excess magnesium in the blood. If the hypermagnesemia patient had taken magnesium laxatives and is still constipating, gastrointestinal evacuation/decontamination is done to stop continued absorption.

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References: 1.Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet. National Institutes of Health. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/ 2.Helmut Geiger, Christoph Wanner. Magnesium in disease. Clin Kidney J (2012) 5 (Suppl 1): i25-i38. doi: 10.1093/ndtplus/sfr165 3.Kutsal E, Aydemir C, Eldes N, Demirel F, Polat R, Taspnar O, Kulah E. Severe hypermagnesemia as a result of excessive cathartic ingestion in a child without renal failure. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2007 Aug;23(8):570-2.

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