Durlach, J, Bac, P, Durlach, V et al. · Magnesium research · 1997
This review discusses how low magnesium levels in the body can affect the nervous system and cause symptoms like fatigue, muscle twitching, heart palpitations, and breathing problems. The authors describe how magnesium deficiency can mimic or contribute to chronic fatigue syndrome and similar conditions, and they explain tests (like EMG and blood tests) that can help diagnose this problem. They also suggest that taking magnesium supplements by mouth at appropriate doses may help relieve these symptoms.
For ME/CFS patients, this work is relevant because chronic fatigue syndrome is explicitly mentioned as a condition with symptomatology overlapping nervous magnesium deficiency, and magnesium dysregulation has been proposed as a potential pathophysiological mechanism in ME/CFS. The diagnostic and therapeutic framework proposed may help identify a treatable subset of patients with chronic fatigue-like illnesses and offers practical testing approaches applicable to ME/CFS cohorts.
This review does not prove that magnesium deficiency causes ME/CFS, nor does it establish that all patients with CFS have magnesium deficiency. The paper conflates several historically named syndromes (latent tetany, hyperventilation syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome) without rigorous diagnostic separation, and the evidence linking magnesium deficiency directly to CFS pathogenesis remains correlational rather than mechanistic. Additionally, the review predates modern biomarker-driven ME/CFS case definitions.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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Primary citation
Durlach, J, Bac, P, Durlach, V, Bara, M, & Guiet-Bara, A (1997). Neurotic, neuromuscular and autonomic nervous form of magnesium imbalance.. Magnesium research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9368238/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-durlach-1997-neurotic-neuromuscular,
author = {Durlach, J and Bac, P and Durlach, V and Bara, M and Guiet-Bara, A},
title = {Neurotic, neuromuscular and autonomic nervous form of magnesium imbalance.},
journal = {Magnesium research},
year = {1997},
note = {PubMed: 9368238},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/durlach-1997-neurotic-neuromuscular},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/durlach-1997-neurotic-neuromuscular
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