Hinds, G, Bell, N P, McMaster, D et al. · Annals of clinical biochemistry · 1994 · DOI
This study tested whether people with ME/CFS have low magnesium levels, since some people believed magnesium supplements might help with fatigue. Researchers measured magnesium in red blood cells from 89 ME/CFS patients and compared them to healthy people, then did additional tests on six patients. They found no difference in magnesium levels between the two groups.
Magnesium supplementation has been proposed as a potential treatment for ME/CFS based on anecdotal reports and the mineral's role in energy metabolism. This study provides evidence that typical magnesium deficiency is not a characteristic feature of ME/CFS, helping guide treatment discussions and preventing unnecessary supplementation in patients without demonstrated deficiency.
This study does not prove that magnesium plays no role in ME/CFS pathophysiology—it only shows that RBC magnesium concentrations are normal in this population. It does not address whether magnesium might help despite normal levels, nor does it exclude intracellular magnesium dysfunction or compartmentalization issues that RBC measurements might not capture.
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 →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Hinds, G, Bell, N P, McMaster, D, & McCluskey, D R (1994). Normal red cell magnesium concentrations and magnesium loading tests in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Annals of clinical biochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1177/000456329403100506
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hinds-1994-normal-red,
author = {Hinds, G and Bell, N P and McMaster, D and McCluskey, D R},
title = {Normal red cell magnesium concentrations and magnesium loading tests in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Annals of clinical biochemistry},
year = {1994},
doi = {10.1177/000456329403100506},
note = {PubMed: 7832571},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hinds-1994-normal-red},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hinds-1994-normal-red
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