Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury: Improving Acute and Subacute Health Outcomes in Military Personnel.

"...Results of studies employing experimental animals have shown that magnesium can protect against a number of the secondary consequences of traumatic brain injury. Clini cal studies have had more mixed results, however, with several large trials (e.g., IMAGES) failing to observe a beneficial effect of the mineral on recovery from stroke; indeed, a Cochrane review concluded that the evidence does not currently support magnesium therapy in patients with acute brain injury. No large clinical studies have assessed the neuroprotective effects of magnesium on other types of brain injury, including TBI.

At present, there is no clear evidence that magnesium would be useful in the treatment of TBI occurring in military personnel. However, it is recommended that the results of the FAST-MAG trial be monitored to determine if administration of magnesium within a two-hour window after brain damage can alleviate some of the detrimental consequences of TBI."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209305/