When the patients suspected of depression are evaluated, it is recommended that they are evaluated their serum magnesium status.

The result of 20-y follow-up study showed that magnesium intake may have an effect on the risk of developing depression.

In the majority of studies a significant relationship has been observed between magnesium deficiency and depression.

Magnesium is involved in the pathophysiology of some psychologic disorders including effective disorder such as depression.

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the effect of magnesium supplementation on the depression status of depressed patients suffering from magnesium deficiency.

Methods Sixty depressed people suffering from hypomagnesemia participated in this trial. The individuals were randomly categorized into two groups of 30 members; one receiving two 250-mg tablets of magnesium oxide (MG) daily and the other receiving placebo (PG) for 8 wk. The Beck Depression Inventory-II was conducted and the concentration of serum magnesium was measured.

Results At the end of intervention, 88.5% of the MG and 48.1% of the PG (P = 0.002) had a normal level of magnesium. The mean changes of serum magnesium were significantly different across the two groups. After the intervention, the mean Beck score significantly declined. However, in the MG, this reduction was more significant than in the PG (P = 0.02), so that the mean changes in this group experienced 15.65 ± 8.9 reduction, but in the PG, it declined by 10.40 ± 7.9.