VRP Staff
The majority of patients with acute stroke are deficient in vitamin D throughout the year and this deficiency may have preceded the stroke, researchers have discovered in a new study published in the journalStroke.
Stroke patients often experience a reduction in bone mineral density, altered calcium homeostasis, and an increase in hip fractures. In addition, vitamin D deficiency is well documented in stroke survivors and is associated with post-stroke hip fractures.
Less is known about vitamin D levels in acute stroke. Consequently, every 2 months for 1 year, authors of the current study compared serum vitamin D levels of 44 patients admitted to an acute stroke unit with those of 96 healthy, ambulant elderly subjects. The stroke patients included in the study had not previously suffered from a stroke.
After taking into account seasonal variance in vitamin D levels, the researchers determined that 77 percent of the stroke patients were deficient in vitamin D throughout the year. The researchers suggested that this deficiency may have preceded the occurrence of stroke.
According to the researchers, “Vitamin D is a potential risk marker for stroke, and the role of vitamin D repletion in enhancing musculoskeletal health after stroke needs to be explored.”
Reference:
Poole KE, Loveridge N, Barker PJ, Halsall DJ, Rose C, Reeve J, Warburton EA. Reduced vitamin D in acute stroke. Stroke. 2006 Jan;37(1):243-5. Epub 2005 Dec 1.
