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Randomized trial · measured other health measures

2-month trial in 75 adults with restless legs: magnesium or vitamin B6 improved sleep

Jadidi and colleagues · BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2022

Original title: Therapeutic effects of magnesium and vitamin B6 in alleviating the symptoms of restless legs syndrome: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

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What the study found

Points to benefit

At month two, sleep quality and symptom severity differed between the three groups (P = 0.001). The authors said magnesium and vitamin B6 improved sleep quality and eased symptoms.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
75 people · adults with restless legs syndrome for at least 3 months
What was tested
250 mg magnesium oxide a day, or 40 mg vitamin B6, vs placebo, for 2 months; one-blind
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
Daily amount
250 mg a day
How long
9 weeks
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2022
Source
PubMed record 36587225. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Randomized: people were put into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike.
  • ✓Compared with a placebo, a dummy treatment.
  • •Medium size: 75 people.
  • –Short: 9 weeks. Longer-term effects are unknown.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: sleep quality and insomnia

    1

    1 benefit

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    6

    4 benefit, 2 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    3

    2 mixed, 1 no difference

  5. Blood levels and genes

    3

    2 benefit, 1 no difference

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does magnesium help you sleep?”

Not clearly; trials disagree.

Confidence: very low. Based on 16 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 5 papers on the same step: 3 benefit, 2 no difference. This one found benefit. It agrees with most of them.

Other papers on the same step

See all 16 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads differed. The reviewer checked the abstract and kept the first read. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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