Does oral calcium supplementation lower high blood pressure? A double blind study

Eighteen unselected patients with untreated mild to moderate essential hypertension, whose average supine blood pressure after 2 months' observation on no treatment was 154/103 mmHg, were entered into a double-blind randomized crossover study of 1 month's treatment with calcium lactate gluconate (40 mmol of elemental calcium/day) and treatment with placebo for a further month. Despite a significant increase in total plasma calcium (P less than 0.01) and in 24-h urinary excretion of calcium (P less than 0.025) while taking calcium lactate gluconate, there was no fall in blood pressure with calcium supplementation compared to treatment with placebo.