- The ARC - California Edition -

Magnesium May Reduse MR and CP

"Prenatal magnesium sulfate treatment is highly effective in reducing the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) and perhaps mental retardation among very low-birth-weight infants" according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This new study confirms earlier work that showed that magnesium sulfate - given to mothers shortly before delivery - may prevent CP in this high risk group.

Magnesium sulfate is used to treat pregnant women with preeclampsia. This condition is related to high blood pressure and is diagnosed in approximately 5% of all pregnancies.

Another current use of the magnesium compound is as an attempt to halt preterm labor. Both of these conditions are commonly associated with infants that are born small for gestation age and below a normal birth weight.

Very low-birth-weight infants (VLBW), those born weighting less than 3.3 pounds, often have central nervous system damage and face a significant risk of cerebral palsy and mental retardation. These tiny infants are almost always very premature and have various neurologic or sensory difficulties. Many die. One in 20 survivors has cerebral palsy.

These researchers studied 1,097 VLBW infants, including following the development of 519 who survived infancy. Of the population studied, 113 of the mothers had received magnesium sulfate during her pregnancy. Only two of the magnesium- exposed children had mental retardation. This compares with 22 children with mental retardation in the group that were not exposed to the compound. Further, only one of these children developed cerebral palsy. This compares with 30 cases of CP in children whose mothers did not receive the compound.

The study did not determine exactly why the reduction in MR and CP occurred, but the researchers speculated that magnesium may somehow prevent fetal brain hemorrhage or block the harmful effects of a diminished oxygen supply to the brain.

Magnesium Sulfate Bibliography Hauth JC, Goldenberg RL, Nelson KG, DuBard MB, Peralta MA, Gaudier FL (1995). Reduction of cerebral palsy with maternal MgSO4 treatment in newborns weighting 500-1000 g. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 172(pt.2):419.

Nelson KB, Grether JK (1995). Can magnesium sulfate reduce the risk of cerebral palsy in very low birthweight infants? Pediatrics, 95(2):263-269.

Schendel DE, Berg CJ, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Boyle CA, Decoufle, P (1996). Prenatal magnesium sulfate exposure and the risk for cerebral palsy or mental retardation among very low-birth-weight children aged 3 to 5 Years. Journal of the American Medical Association, 276(22):1805-1810.

Cerebral Palsy and Magnesium Sulfate. California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, February 1995.