Low calcium intake linked to sudden cardiac arrest, study suggests

It also found patients were more likely to suffer from diabetes and chronic kidney disease

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People with low calcium blood levels are twice as likely to suffer a cardiac arrest, new research suggests.

A condition that proves fatal in 90 per cent of cases, researchers have been working extensively to understand what puts people at greater risk of cardiac arrest.

Now, new findings could have finally discovered that vital clue with a recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings unveiling a surprising link between the condition and calcium intake.

Scientists in the US compared blood calcium levels measured in 267 patients who experienced a cardiac arrest and an additional 445 others who did not.

The results found that serum calcium levels were lower in individuals who had a sudden cardiac arrest.

“Patients with serum calcium in the lowest quartile (bottom 25 per cen) had twice the odds of sudden cardiac arrest compared to those in the highest quartile (top 25 per cent), even after controlling for multiple patient characteristics including demographics, cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities, and medication use,” said Dr Sumeet Chugh, lead investigator from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles.

Patients in the higher risk group had blood calcium levels of less than 8.95 milligrams per decilitre, which is just within the normal range of 8.5-10.2mg.

In addition, the data also found that cardiac arrest patients were significantly more likely to be African Americans and to suffer from diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease.

While more research is needed to find out whether improving calcium intake will actually reduce the risk of an unexpected heart attack, the findings are a step towards better prediction of risk.