Influence of Magnesium as a Major Contributor of Water Hardness on Some Cardiac Disease Risk Factors

Various ecological studies report a reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality risk with increasing magnesium levels in drinking water. Most of the studies done in this field were epidemiologic studies.The aim of the present study was to examine whether magnesium addition to drinking water can affect risks of cardiac disease. The study included five groups of male albino rats. The rats received either tap water or water containing 5, 10, 20 g of magnesium sulfate per liter. During the whole experiment, all the groups received hypercholesterolemic diet except for the normal control which received normal basal diet. At the end of the experiment, blood was drawn for the determination of plasma magnesium, lipid profile and liver function. In addition, the extent of obesity was determined using the body mass index (BMI). In all groups magnesium addition was associated with higher levels of plasma magnesium. The blood analysis showed a significant decrease in serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL- cholesterol and VLDL- cholesterol, while there was a significant increase in HDL- cholesterol in groups received magnesium sulfate in drinking water, compared with the hypercholesterolemic group received tap water. GOT, GPT and ALP followed the same trend. The addition of MgSO4 to the drinking water results in significant decrease in BMI of the magnesium treated groups relative to the hypercholesterolemic control. These results showed that high magnesium concentration in drinking water is capable of decreasing some cardiac disease risk factors in male albino rats. Keywords: Cardiac disease, hypercholesterolemia, Magnesium, Risk factors, Water