Low magnesium levels can enhance the pharmacologic action of which medication?

Get ready for your FCCN Level 1 Exam. Boost your confidence with multiple-choice questions, hints, and detailed explanations. Equip yourself with essential knowledge for critical care nursing!

Low magnesium levels can enhance the pharmacologic action of digoxin. Magnesium plays a crucial role in maintaining normal cellular function and is involved in the electrical activity of the heart. When magnesium levels are low, the body may become more sensitive to digoxin, which acts by influencing the sodium-potassium pump and modifying cardiac contractility.

In patients with low magnesium levels, the increased sensitivity to digoxin can lead to a heightened response, increasing the risk of toxicity and adverse effects, such as arrhythmias. This necessitates closer monitoring of digoxin levels and potential dose adjustments in patients with hypomagnesemia to avoid complications.

The other medications listed do not have the same relationship with magnesium levels. Aspirin primarily acts as an anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant, insulin is a hormone crucial for glucose metabolism, and warfarin functions as an anticoagulant by inhibiting vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. While magnesium may impact various biochemical pathways or processes, it is the direct effect on digoxin's action in the heart that makes low magnesium particularly significant in this context.

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