Globally, as of 2015, the International Diabetes Federation, reported an estimated 415 million adults are living with diabetes. Yes, that’s more than the population of the U.S. The incidence of diabetes is increasing rapidly, and by 2030, this number will likely double.

Many people live with type 2 diabetes for a long period of time without being aware of their condition. By the time they figure it out the complications of this condition may already be present.

One of the signs of diabetes is low magnesium; it’s in all the medical texts but because we never learned about the importance of minerals in medical school, doctors do not routinely test for magnesium. And if they do, they use the wrong test. The serum magnesium test is highly inaccurate. But, luckily you can order your own Magnesium RBC test without a doctor’s prescription online at Request A Test. It’s only $49.00, but you want to have an optimum magnesium level of 6.0-6.5mg/dL.

Diabetes damages the kidneys and is the leading cause of kidney disease. However, when the kidneys are impaired, doctors tell their patients not to take magnesium, which is what they actually need to heal their kidneys.

Are you detecting the pattern here? Do you see the irony?

In the original edition of The Magnesium Miracle, Dr. Dean did not have a specific section on Kidney Disease. That was mostly because the association of magnesium with kidney disease has for many decades been to just avoid it. Over the years the medical and scientific communities have started to acknowledge that the kidneys need magnesium just like any other organ and the attack on magnesium has little scientific merit. Magnesium is a biological necessity and the blanket avoidance of it in kidney disease has led to untold suffering.

The NIH acknowledges a “growing burden of kidney disease.” Statistics show a sharp increase in kidney disease affecting one in 10 American adults. But how are doctors diagnosing kidney disease these days? Perhaps they are setting the criteria for kidney filtration rates at a lower level much like they are doing with blood pressure and cholesterol. By having broader criteria, more people find themselves being diagnosed with pre-diabetes, pre-hypertension, and now pre-kidney disease and are terrified because they are being told they are developing chronic diseases for which there is no cure.

Catching more people in the net of pre-kidney disease means these patients will be offered medications for associated conditions – like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes that seems to go hand-in-hand with kidney disease.

Dr. Dean points to another factor in kidney disease: the rampant use of prescription medications.

For example, a 2016 study gives evidence that PPI heartburn drugs cause kidney injury.[i] The authors echo my sentiments that any drug should only be used when necessary, not as a preventive measure. They say, \"The results emphasize the importance of limiting PPI use to only when it is medically necessary, and also limiting the duration of use to the shortest duration possible. A lot of patients start taking PPIs for a medical condition and they continue much longer than necessary.\" Often doctors tell patients to keep taking drugs “just in case” their symptoms come back instead of instituting more natural measures to prevent recurrence of symptoms.