Because serum magnesium does not reflect intracellular magnesium, the latter making up more than 99% of total body magnesium, most cases of magnesium deficiency are undiagnosed. Furthermore, because of chronic diseases, medications, decreases in food crop magnesium contents, and the availability of refined and processed foods, the vast majority of people in modern societies are at risk for magnesium deficiency. Certain individuals will need to supplement with magnesium in order to prevent suboptimal magnesium deficiency, especially if trying to obtain an optimal magnesium status to prevent chronic disease. Subclinical magnesium deficiency increases the risk of numerous types of cardiovascular disease, costs nations around the world an incalculable amount of healthcare costs and suffering, and should be considered a public health crisis. That an easy, cost-effective strategy exists to prevent and treat subclinical magnesium deficiency should provide an urgent call to action.

α-Glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) are a class of oral glucose-lowering drugs used exclusively for treatment or prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus. AGIs act by altering the intestinal absorption of carbohydrates through inhibition of their conversion into simple sugars (monosaccharides) and thus decrease the bioavailability of carbohydrates in the body, significantly lowering blood glucose levels. The three AGIs used in clinical practice are acarbose, voglibose and miglitol. This review will focus on the cardiovascular properties of acarbose. The current available data suggest that AGIs (particularly acarbose) may be safe and effective for the treatment of prediabetes and diabetes.

The consumption of seed oils high in the omega-6 polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) linoleic acid (LA) contributes to low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis.1 Moreover, dietary LA significantly increases cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in the aorta,2 converting arachidonic acid (AA) to proinflammatory eicosanoids. This may explain why increasing LA intake can actually lower AA levels due to an increased breakdown into harmful proinflammatory metabolites. Additionally, there is an AA-independent pathway of inflammation promoted by the intake of omega-6 seed oils such as increased production of oxidised linoleic acid metabolites (OXLAMs) and proinflammatory LA CYP-eicosanoids.3–5 OXLAMs formed from LA activate NF-kB and increase proinflammatory cytokines, endothelial adhesion molecules, as well as chemokines, all of which are paramount in the formation of atherosclerosis.5–8 LA also induces an inflammatory environment in endothelial cells that may increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).8 OXLAMs are found at a 50-fold higher concentration in plasma than AA metabolites, suggesting that they are more consequential in CHD and other chronic diseases,2 3 9 and lowering dietary LA reduces OXLAMs in the body.3

In 1980, a significant segment of the US population was already overweight or obese, but obesity standards did not exist. Therefore, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held the Workshop on Body Weight, Health and Longevity to correct the deficiency so that data could be improved. The workshop concluded:In the United States, the weight associated with the greatest longevity tends to be below the average weight of the population under consideration, if such weights are not associated with a history of significant medical impairment. Overweight persons tend to die sooner than average-weight persons, especially those who are overweight at younger ages. The effect of being overweight on mortality is delayed and may not be seen in short-term studies. Cigarette smoking is a potential confounder of the relationship between obesity and mortality. Studies on body weight, morbidity, and mortality must be interpreted with careful attention to the definitions of obesity or relative weight used, preexisting morbid conditions, the length of follow-up, and confounders in the analysis. The terminology of body weight standards should be defined more precisely and cited appropriately. An appropriate database relating body weight by sex, age, and possibly frame size to morbidity and mortality should be developed to permit the preparation of reference tables for defining the desirable range of body weight based on morbidity and mortality statistics.1 Based on body mass index (BMI), 1.5 billion people are overweight (BMI≥25.0 kg/m2) and 500 million of them are classified as obese (BMI≥30 kg/m2).2–3 Since 1980 there have been many studies on the causes and management of obesity including behavioural studies, physical activity studies, nutritional studies ranging from high-protein low-carbohydrate low-fat, high-carbohydrate low-calorie diets and drugs for the treatment of obesity, yet despite all these efforts the US population continues to increase its weight and similar …