HORMONAL CONTRACEPTION AND MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY: A SUBANALYSIS OF THE MAGYN STUDY

Abstract

The use of estrogen-containing hormonal drugs facilitates excretion of magnesium ions. It is therefore important to characterize women who use hormonal contraceptives, and to test correlation between the use of hormonal contraception -(HC) and the magnesium deficiency (MgD).Objectives. To create a profile of HC-using women who enrolled in the MAGYN study.Materials and Methods. The study included the disease registry (MgD in women with hormone-dependent diseases) and the data on safety and effectiveness of magnesium supplementation with a combination of magnesium citrate and pyridoxine. The standard questionnaire and biochemical determination of serum magnesium were used to diagnose MgD. The severity of MgD symptoms was evaluated using a 10-point visual analogue scale; the quality of life was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire after four weeks of therapy.Results. Among the total of 9168 women in the MAGYN study, hormonal contraceptives were used by 1528 women (16.7%). Of these women, combined estrogen-progestin single-phase contraceptives were used in 66.2% cases, a vaginal ring with a combination of estrogen and progestogen – 11.7%, and oral combined estrogen-gestagenic two-phase medications – 10.9%. The most common complaints among the women on hormonal contraception were "fatigue", "nervousness", "irritability", "state of chronic stress"; those symptoms were significantly more frequent in women with confirmed MgD. The prevalence of MgD in the group of women receiving hormonal contraception was 67%.Conclusion. The present study demonstrates high prevalence of MgD in women using hormonal contraception. Correcting MgD significantly improves the women’s health and their quality of life. Since the nutrition profile, behavior patterns, quality of life and social preferences of women may depend on urban population size, larger studies are warranted in cities with a population of >250 thousand to obtain the data relevant to the entire country.

Keywords

• magnesium deficiency
• contraception
• combined oral contraceptives
• cocs.