Project summary
Some people with type 1 diabetes have low levels of magnesium in their blood, which can increase their risk of blood clots and heart attacks and strokes. Dr Alan Stewart wants to dig deeper into how magnesium could influence clotting and diabetes complications, and find out if magnesium supplements could offer new and simple way to drive down risks and save lives.
Background to research
Magnesium is essential for lots of processes in our bodies that keep us healthy. But Dr Alan Stewart has found that it’s common for people living with type 1 diabetes to have lower levels of magnesium in their blood.
Dr Stewart’s also shown that low magnesium levels in people with type 1 mean they can’t break down blood clots as easily as people without diabetes. Blood clots can lead to dangerous blockages in our blood vessels, causing heart attacks and strokes.
But we don’t yet know why low magnesium levels are linked to clotting problems. Or if upping levels could unlock a new way to help break down blood clots, while avoiding the side effects that come with current anti-clotting treatments.
Research aims
Dr Stewart wants to understand exactly what magnesium’s role is in breaking down blood clots, and to explore if that magnesium supplements could help to combat clotting.
Dr Stewart and his team will take blood samples from a group of people with type 1 diabetes and measure their magnesium levels. They’ll investigate in detail how blood clots form and are broken down compared to samples from a group of people without diabetes, to pinpoint the impact of low magnesium levels on this process.
They’ll then randomly split the group with type 1 diabetes and low magnesium levels in two. Half the group will take a magnesium supplement for two weeks, while the other half will take a harmless dummy drug called a placebo. Two weeks later the groups will be switched, so the placebo group will now take the magnesium supplement and vice versa.
The team will take blood samples during the study to measure magnesium levels and whether this influences blood clotting. They’ll also ask all the participants to fill in questionnaires about the supplements and their quality of life.
Potential benefit to people with diabetes
At the moment, people with type 1 diabetes have to weigh up their risks of blood clots with the side effects from anti-clotting treatments. If Dr Stewart finds that magnesium supplements can help people with type 1 diabetes to break down clots more easily, it could give us a safe, simple, and cheap new way to help prevent devastating heart attacks and strokes, and save lives.
