Introduction. Stroke is the second leading cause of death in the world and
the leading cause of serious, long term disability in adults; about half of
those who survive become dependent on others in performing personal
activities of daily living. Ischemia disturbs calcium cellular homeostasis,
whereas calcium channel blockers re-establish it. This study was aimed at
assessing benefits of calcium channel blockers on the outcome of
rehabilitation of the patients afflicted by ischemic stroke. Material and
Methods. The functional independence was measured by the Barthel index in 90
patients subjected to rehabilitative therapeutic treatment. The functional
recovery of patients treated with calcium channel blockers and with other
drugs (control) was compared and tested. Results. The analysis of variance
(ANOVA) for the 0.5 confidence interval showed that the increases of the
Barthel index values were significantly higher in the patients treated with
calcium antagonists (p<0.5). Discussion. According to the literature, such an
outcome is the result of improved brain blood f low auto-regulation,
increased brain perfusion as well as of neuroprotective, antioxidative,
platelet antiaggregatory effects of investigated drugs. Conclusion. The
calcium channel blockers improved the outcome of rehabilitative therapeutic
treatment significantly in the patients afflicted by ischemic stroke.
Heart rate-lowering calcium channel blockers (diltiazern, verapamil) do not adversely affect long-term cardiac death or non-fatal infarction in post-infarction patients: Data pooled from 3 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of 5,677 patients
