Magnesium beat placebo on depression scores, in seven small trials
Across seven randomised trials in 325 adults with depression, magnesium lowered depression scores substantially further than placebo. It is a large effect resting on a small pool.
What the study found
Seven small trials put magnesium well ahead of placebo on mood
The effect looks large, and the pool it comes from is tiny. Across seven randomised trials in 325 adults with depression, magnesium lowered depression scores substantially further than placebo.
The caveat · Placebo only, no antidepressant
Seven trials and 325 people is a thin base, and the authors ask for larger, better ones before anybody draws a clinical conclusion. An effect this big out of a pool this small is also the pattern produced when small trials that found nothing never reach publication. Magnesium was compared with placebo, never with a prescription antidepressant.
What we don't know
Seven trials and 325 people is a thin base, and the authors ask for larger, better ones before anybody draws a clinical conclusion. An effect this big out of a pool this small is also the pattern produced when small trials that found nothing never reach publication. Magnesium was compared with placebo, never with a prescription antidepressant.