Water Hardness Human Health And The Importance Of Magnesium

Can calcium and magnesium ("hardness") in drinking water contribute to preventing disease? This book documents the outputs of an unprecedented group of experts assembled by the World Health Organization to address this question. It includes their comprehensive consensus view on what is known and what is not about the role and possible health benefit of calcium and magnesium in drinking-water. Also included is a series of chapters each authored by internationally renowned experts reviewing the state of the art in different aspects including: global dietary calcium and magnesium intakes; the contribution of drinking water to calcium and magnesium intake; health significance of calcium and magnesium; role of drinking-water in relation to bone metabolism; epidemiological studies and the association of cardiovascular disease risks with water hardness and magnesium in particular; water production; technical issues and economics. In both developed and developing countries, typical diets are often deficient in calcium and magnesium--essential minerals which are necessary for the development of strong bones and teeth, and for cardiovascular function. At the same time, there is evidence that consuming "hard" drinking-water may be associated with reduced risks for some diseases. Climate change and other ongoing changes will increase the use of high tech treatments--for example desalination and reclamation of polluted waters and mean that the issue will be of increasing future importance.

Calcium and magnesium are abundant in groundwater, but the role of groundwater as the essential source of these important nutrients is very often neglected. Hydrogeochemical studies have focused mainly on the distribution and behaviour of constituents that cause deterioration of water quality, such as: nitrate, nitrite or iron and manganese. Therefore, most recent books and papers concentrate mainly on these constituents and only a small number of papers describe the results of groundwater studies on other important water components such as calcium or magnesium. Calcium and magnesium are of great importance to human wellbeing and inadequate intake of either nutrient can impair health. The main objective of this book is to present a selection of studies on calcium and magnesium in groundwater and to highlight their importance for human health. The chapters in this book are written by hydrogeologists and hydrochemists as well as medical doctors and include: methods of investigation of calcium and magnesium in groundwaters, distribution and behaviour of calcium and magnesium in different aquifers, calcium and magnesium in bottled mineral and spring waters, and the significance of calcium and magnesium in waters for human health.

Entering the 1980's, coronary heart disease (CHD) still remains the major cause of death in the United States and ranks second in the world in terms of CHD mortality rates. However, CHD mortality and morbidity rates in the United States have declined significantly since the 1950's. There are many reasons for this positive and encouraging change, one of which is the increasing awareness of the importance of the role of nutrition in health and disease. Diet has been identified as an important factor contributing to hyperlipidemia in individuals and populations. Dietary modification has become a routine means of treating patients with lipid disorders. The relationship between diet and chronic disease is, however, far from simple and at the present time, needs further intensive research. Many significant advances have recently taken place in our understanding of the effect of different nutritional components on blood lipids and lipopro teins and on the initiation progression and regression of atherosclerotic proces ses. This symposium (The 19th annual meeting of the American College of Nutrition: Cardiovascular Disease and Nutrition held at Bloomington, Minn. on June 1-2, 1978) addressed many of the important questions concerning the association of diet and CRD. We have not restricted the topic to hyperlipi demia and CHD, per se but have considered cardiovascular disease in general. This monograph should be of interest to the dietitian, nutritionist, pediatric clinician, cardiologist, physicians in general, and researchers in the field of cardiovascular disease. Herbert K. Naito, Ph.D.

Following the successful first edition of this book on drinking water quality and health, this new edition puts more focus on the importance of minerals in drinking water. It includes new scientific material and presents additional studies on the negative health effects of reverse osmosis water. The various safety organizations working on drinking water all warn about unhealthy constituents, as well as elements that can cause corrosion or scaling on pipes and installations. However, drinking water may also provide a substantial portion of the daily mineral intake, especially for the elderly and children, or those at risk of deficiencies due to unhealthy eating habits or starvation. Thus, a holistic approach to drinking water is presented in this book and the scope is extended from standards for undesirable substances to the basic mineral composition of water, examining 22 nutrient elements and ions and 21 toxic substances. The function of the nutrients in the body, symptoms of deficiency and overload, and advantages of the minerals from drinking water are presented, as well as symptoms of toxic elements from drinking water. The authors also suggest healthy ranges of minerals and mineral ratios for drinking water. The book offers a valuable resource for the health evaluation of drinking waters, for private well owners, public water producers and safety organizations alike.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.