This invention provides a class of therapeutic compounds and methods for
the treatment of mammals of physiological disorders, for example a
frequently occurring type of essential hypertension, which are associated
with the decreased binding of magnesium to the plasma membranes of their
cells. These methods consist of administering to a mammal in need of such
treatment a compound selected from a series of disubstituted
trans,trans-1,3-butadienes, 1,3-perhydrobutadienes, 1,2-disubstituted
trans ethylenes, and 1,2-disubstituted ethanes and disubstituted propanes,
each of which embodies, in common, the unique structural feature essential
for the biological activity of these compounds. This invention also
provides for pharmaceutical formulations that employ these novel
compounds.