Pregnancy leg cramps did not respond to magnesium in 332 women
Pooling four trials in 332 pregnant women, oral magnesium neither reduced how often leg cramps struck nor sped up recovery from them, against placebo.
What the study found
Magnesium did not cut leg cramps in 332 pregnant women
The most common advice for pregnancy cramps did not survive its own test. Pooling four trials in 332 pregnant women, oral magnesium neither reduced how often leg cramps struck nor sped up recovery from them, against placebo.
The caveat · A small benefit could still hide
Four trials and 332 women leave enough room that a small real benefit could still be hiding inside the result. Cramps were defined and counted differently from trial to trial, which blunts any pooled figure. And this is cramps in pregnancy, not the ordinary night-time leg cramps most people mean.
What we don't know
Four trials and 332 women leave enough room that a small real benefit could still be hiding inside the result. Cramps were defined and counted differently from trial to trial, which blunts any pooled figure. And this is cramps in pregnancy, not the ordinary night-time leg cramps most people mean.