Magnesium in Drinking Water and Death from Acute Myocardial Infarction

The relation between death from acute myocardial infarction and the level of magnesium in drinking water was examined using mortality registers and a case-control design. The study area comprised 17 municipalities in the southern part of Sweden that have different magnesium levels in the drinking wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of epidemiology 1996-03, Vol.143 (5), p.456-462
Main Authors: Rubenowitz, Eva, Axelsson, Gösta, Rylander, Ragnar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
calcium
Calcium - analysis
Cardiology. Vascular system
Case-Control Studies
coronary disease
Coronary heart disease
drinking water
Environmental Exposure
Heart
Humans
magnesium
Magnesium - analysis
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
myocardial infarction
Myocardial Infarction - mortality
Myocardial Infarction - prevention & control
Neoplasms - mortality
Odds Ratio
Retrospective Studies
Sweden - epidemiology
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water Supply
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Summary:The relation between death from acute myocardial infarction and the level of magnesium in drinking water was examined using mortality registers and a case-control design. The study area comprised 17 municipalities in the southern part of Sweden that have different magnesium levels in the drinking water. Cases were men in the area who had died of acute myocardial infarction between ages 50 and 69 years during the period 1982–1989 (n = 854). The controls were men of the same age in the same area who had died from cancer during the same time period (n = 989). In both groups, only men who consumed water supplied from municipal waterworks were included in the study. The subjects were divided into quartiles according to the drinking water levels of magnesium and calcium and the quotient between magnesium and calcium. The odds ratios for death from acute myocardial infarction in the groups were inversely related to the amount of magnesium in drinking water. For the group with the highest levels of magnesium in drinking water, the odds ratio adjusted for age and calcium level was 0.65 (95 percent confidence interval 0.50–0.84). There was no such relation for calcium. For the magnesium/calcium quotient, the odds ratio was lower only for the group with the highest quotient. These data suggest that magnesium in drinking water is an important protective factor for death from acute myocardial infarction among males. Am J Epidemiol 1996;143:456–62.
ISSN:0002-9262
1476-6256
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a008765