A magnesium supplement best known as a brain and sleep booster just showed up in a cancer pain trial. In 83 advanced cancer patients on oral opioids, those taking magnesium-L-threonate (L-TAMS, the compound sold as Magtein) saw their morphine doses climb about half as much over 90 days as those on placebo. The supplement also eased opioid-induced constipation. But this was a small, single-center study in a very specific group, and it is not a reason to change any medication without a doctor. Here is what the paper found, what it didn't, and who should be talking to a clinician.
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