Blood calcium levels on hospital admission may help doctors predict outcome in people who suffer a stroke resulting from a blockage of an artery supplying blood to the brain known as ischemic stroke.

In a study of 237 ischemic stroke patients presenting within 24 hours of symptom onset, higher total blood calcium was strongly associated with less severe stroke and better functional outcome at discharge.

Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele and colleagues from UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, report this finding in the journal Neurology.

They note in the paper that their findings mirror those of the only other study that has examined calcium levels during an acute ischemic stroke, which found calcium levels to be “significantly decreased in patients who died during hospitalization compared with survivors.”

The team also notes that animal studies have shown a significant reduction in tissue injury after calcium infusion in a rat model of brain ischemia (restriction of blood flow) as well as a reduction in stroke mortality after calcium supplementation.

SOURCE: Neurology July 11, 2006