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Mel and all "listers": I apologize for the highly-abbreviated message which got sent by mistake. I'm still trying to figure out what key I hit to send it while I was still composing it, but somehow it happened. Anyway, what I got cut-off saying was that Dr. Seelig was a nutritionist, and Dr. Berger a cardiologist. In addition to their interest in magnesium deficiency and cardiac problems, they were also intrigued by a complex of neurological problems in some of these patients which had been described in the European literature. The terms used for these findings were called "cryptotetany" by Rosselle, and "spasmophilia" by Durlach. These patients, more often females than males, present with a variety of complaints. In fact, their complaints are so many and varied, that these people are thought to be "nuts". Drs. Seelig and Berger approached me because an electromyographic procedure had been described which can be helpful in "diagnosing" this condition. Note that I put "diagnosing" in parentheses because the EMG findings do not diagnose the condition, but are simply "consistent" with it. Anyway, they had such a patient. Her complaints, which had been going on for years, included weakness, depression, anxiety, spots-before-the-eyes, generalized pruritis, swelling of the lower extremities, puffiness around her eyes and mouth, occasional dyspnea, precordial pain, gastrointestinal complaints, and occasional cramping of hands and feet. Work-ups for all the above had been negative. Seelig and Berger were suspicious that perhaps she fit the clinical picture described by Rosselle and Durlach. We performed the EMG examination, which is simply a hyperventilation/ischemia test while recording from intrinsic hand muscles. The findings were VERY positive. The patient was treated with magnesium, she improved, we wrote a paper. The reference is: Seelig MS, Berger AR, Spielholz N: Latent tetany and anxiety, marginal magnesium deficit, and normocalcemia. Diseases of the Nervous System, 36:461-465, 1975. It contains all the details. We also briefly describe 3 other patients with similar complaints and findings. Lastly, of historical interest, see "The Pathogenesis and Clinical Significance of Magnesium Deficiency", Ann New York Acad Sci, 162:707-984, 1969. The physiological importance of magnesium must not be overlooked. Among other things, it is a co-factor for many enzymes, including ATPase. And if ATPase doesn't work properly, a lot of systems are going to suffer. Hope this is helpful Neil S. Neil I. Spielholz, PhD, PT University of Miami School of Medicine %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%