THURSDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Ischemic stroke patients with higher blood levels of calcium may have less severe strokes and a better functional outcome than those with low calcium levels, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego.
Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D., of the Stroke Center and Department of Neurology at the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues studied 240 patients who were seen at the stroke center within 24 hours of their stroke. The researchers classified patients into four groups based on blood levels of calcium and magnesium.
The researchers found that patients with higher calcium levels had strokes only one-third as severe as those with the lowest level. They also found that such patients were 50 percent to 70 percent less likely to have a poor functional outcome. They found no correlation between magnesium levels and stroke severity and outcome.
"These results suggest a connection between high calcium in the blood and reduced cell death from stroke," Ovbiagele said in a statement. "However, it is not yet known whether modifying dietary calcium in people at risk for stroke may help protect against poor stroke outcome."
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