Reducing Calcified Plaque and Heart Attacks

​Arteriosclerosis is the general term for scarring of the arteries and atherosclerosis is more specifically referring to scarring due to plaque. Calcium deposits with oxidized fatty plaque are the real culprits (not cholesterol). Dr. Carolyn Dean states that these plaques “will be dissolved with therapeutic amounts of magnesium.”

Angina is pain in the chest or pain radiating down the left arm due to lack of oxygen to the heart. The pain can feel like a mild ache, a feeling of pressure, or a crushing pain. Dr. James B. Pierce, Ph.D., estimates “up to 50 percent of sudden heart attacks may be due to magnesium deficiency. He has found that magnesium works better than nitroglycerine for his own stress-induced chest pains.”

Heart attacks [also called myocardial infarction (MI) or acute coronary syndrome (ACS)] can cause permanent damage to heart muscle and death. In fact, it is the leading cause of death in the United States. Magnesium has been studied for its effects on the heart since the 1930s and used by injection for the treatment of heart conditions since the 1940s.

​In an analysis of several clinical studies, “researchers concluded that magnesium (in doses of 5 – 10 g by IV injection) reduced the odds of death by an astounding 55 percent in acute MI.” In the past decade, “if intravenous magnesium is given (1) before any other drugs and (2) immediately after onset of a heart attack, the incidence of high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, or a subsequent heart attack is vastly reduced.”

​If doctor administered IV magnesium holds such value, what would increased supplementation of magnesium do to prevent heart attacks?

Dr. Dean says, “unfortunately, I see a greater regimentation in the current HMO system that prevents doctors from doing anything outside the standard practice of drugs and surgery. Most doctors who practice alternative medicine are not covered by insurance…There appears to be an epidemic of heart failure in the Western world. But in my opinion, hearts aren’t failing; it’s doctors who are failing to treat magnesium deficiency, which is an underlying cause of heart disease and subsequent failure.”

She concludes, “There is a formidable anti-nutrient lobby at work that is threatening our health and our lives. Our only recourse is to take responsibility for our own health and protect it.” For more information on heart disease, see There’s An Elephant in the Room–Exposing Hidden Truths in the Science of Health.