Essential nutrient elements are needed by many body tissues to generate and function properly. There is growing interest in the potential importance of calcium and magnesium in fibromyalgia. The positive impact of these crucial elements on bone formation is well-known but their importance for muscle tissue is much less publicized.

With its mild anti-stress, tranquilizing effects on the body, magnesium can help relax skeletal muscles. Chronic deficiencies of magnesium have been linked with muscle pain. Interestingly, deficiencies of magnesium have been identified in the red blood cells (erythrocytes) of patients with fibromyalgia.1 Together with calcium, magnesium also aids in ensuring proper muscle contraction. A disruption of intracellular calcium, which helps to modulate this key physiological function, has been linked to the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia.2

A recent case-control study examined twelve patients who met the American College of Rheumatology's clinical diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. Elemental analysis of these patients' hair samples revealed higher than normal levels of calcium and magnesium, indicating the possibility that these elements were not being properly absorbed in the body. "In the presence of high hair calcium and magnesium levels," the researchers concluded, "calcium and magnesium supplements may be indicated as an adjunctive treatment of fibromyalgia." 3

Selenium is a critical nutrient that can help protect the body from toxic heavy metals and decrease oxidative stress. Researchers recently reported that average serum levels of selenium were significantly lower in a large group of patients (n = 68) with fibromyalgia than in controls.4

Exposure to heavy metal toxins may also play an important role in triggering or exacerbating chronic symptoms of fibromyalgia. Many key symptoms of fibromyalgia resemble classic signs of heavy metal toxicity, including fatigue, neuromuscular pain, depression/anxiety, and sleep disturbances. This has led some investigators to explore the role of toxic heavy metal exposure might play in the condition. One preliminary study speculates that exposure to toxic mercury (via amalgam tooth fillings) may in part precipitate symptoms of primary fibromyalgia.5

Importantly, patients with fibromyalgia appear to be much more sensitive to the physiological effects of heavy metal exposure than other individuals. Patients with fibromyalgia have been scored with higher stimulation indexes (SI) for toxic metals such as aluminum, lead, platinum, cadmium, and silicon compared with healthy controls.6

Based on the awareness that even minute amounts of toxic metal exposure may be potentially detrimental to health, especially in patients with environmental sensitivities, test reports for the Toxic Element Exposure Profile (hair) and the Toxic Element Clearance Profile (urine) are specially color-coded to alert clinicians to any detectable levels of toxic elements, including aluminum, lead, platinum, and cadmium.

References:
1 Eisinger J, Plantamura A, Marie PA, Ayavou T. Selenium and magnesium status in fibromyalgia. Magnes Res 1994 Dec;7(3-4):285-8.

2 Magaldi M, Moltoni L, Biasi G, Marcolongo R. Eisinger J, Plantamura A, Marie PA, Ayavou T. Selenium and magnesium status in fibromyalgia. Magnes Res 1994 Dec;7(3-4):285-8. Changes in intracellular calcium and magnesium ions in the physiopathology of the fybromyalgia syndrome [Italian].Minerva Med 2000 Jul-Aug;91(7-8):137-40

3 Ng SY. Hair calcium and magnesium levels in patients with fibromyalgia: a case center study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1999 Nov-Dec;22(9):586-93.

4 Reinhard P, Schweinsberg F, Wernet D, Kotter I. Selenium status in fibromyalgia. Toxicol Lett 1998 Aug;96-97:177-80.

5 Kotter I, Durk H, Saal JG, Kroiher A, Schweinsberg F. Mercury exposure from dental amalgam fillings in the etiology of primary fibromyalgia: a pilot study. J Rheumatol. 1995 Nov;22(11):2194-5.

6 Shanklin DR, Stevens MV, Hall MF, Smalley DL. Environmental immunogens and T-cell-mediated responses in fibromyalgia: evidence for immune dysregulation and determinants of granuloma formation. Exp Mol Pathol 2000 Oct;69(2):102-18.


All lab tests can be done through the mail in the privacy of your own home, except blood tests, we send you to a lab to have your blood drawn for these. After you pay for the test we mail you the kit, the results take two weeks, the test results will be mailed to us and we will call you to go over the results, its that easy! All tests include the consultation for the report of findings.

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