Extremely high coronary artery calcium (CAC) score. Anyone else?

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Not sure I understand the objection to taking a statin.

They are greatly overprescribed, adversely interact with a lot of medications and are far from being innocuous drugs.

[gsxrken]

Originally Posted by LeeH

I was just going through my old medical records to get ready for my appointment with the cardiologist tomorrow. I ran across something that has me really pissed off. 5 years ago I had an abdominal CT done because I was having an odd cramping that could not be explained. The CT report says there is atherosclerosis! The doc (PA) actually says, "... there is nothing that needs to be done about the plaque formation." Isn't it a bit odd that a CT in a 54 year old (at the time) shows plaque and the advice is to do nothing??? I didn't question this at the time, but I've spent the past few weeks learning about heart disease and can't believe that this was in his write up!

Especially with the family history you shared in your 1st post, that seems hard to believe. It sounds like you’re doing what needs to be done at this point. I would definitely want to get eyes on the situation with the dye test, and go from there.
We’re pulling for you here in Pelican OT.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

After my annual physical - the Dr told me the imaging center next door does scans for $99. I had no symptoms - was mostly curious and decided to have it done as a precaution since it was so inexpensive. I walked over and 20 minutes was done. My score came back at 0.

Is there a Dr on the plane ? I had one of those (above) done also at a hospital which resulted in a score of ZERO also. That was shocking to me as I was not in that great a shape, but I wonder if it's maybe a little misleading. It's not like the dye, just a scan around the heart area as I recall - not pregnant! wouldit be possible to have a blockage further away and for that scan not to detect it at all, or for non calcified plaque to be all over ? Experts please chime in ? there's no way I was a ZERO being 50 lbs overweight at the time !

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Is there a Dr on the plane ? I had one of those (above) done also at a hospital which resulted in a score of ZERO also. That was shocking to me as I was not in that great a shape, but I wonder if it's maybe a little misleading. It's not like the dye, just a scan around the heart area as I recall - not pregnant! wouldit be possible to have a blockage further away and for that scan not to detect it at all, or for non calcified plaque to be all over ? Experts please chime in ? there's no way I was a ZERO being 50 lbs overweight at the time !

Mine was full body.

[David]

I had a 1st heart scan about 5 years ago and a 2nd a few weeks ago. Scored zero on both but my dad died at 43 of a heart attack and I'm 55 so I'm being extra diligent.

They showed me my zero score scan pic and I was like so what am I looking for. They said there's nothing there so you get a zero. Then they showed me a scan of a guy who didn't score a zero. Lots of white spots all around the heart. Not sure if it's proven science or not but it sure didn't look good to me. It cost me $150 out of pocket since insurance doesn't cover it.

[john70t]

I've heard that drinking a lot of acidic fluid like Coke makes the bones brittle by removing calcium. Not sure if it works that way with venous calcium cholesterol or not. The Italians/French eat their fill of pasta and meat with wine and remain healthy somehow. Garlic is supposed to be a blood thinner. Tea has medicinal properties. We rarely drink enough water.

I'm working up the willpower to start fasting occasionally. Just a day to start with. Maybe half an orange x2. The body may reset and clean itself a bit.

[bugstrider]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

Anyone heard of the company Telestream? My friend and co founder dropped dead yesterday while jogging. He had a four way bypass 7-8 years ago and was trying to eat right and exercise. Quite a shock.

Damn,
So sorry to hear that Bugs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Crowbob]

I was in a training situation 40 years ago wherein we had to learn about GXT’s. Part of the deal was to observe somebody having a stress test. I volunteered. They hooked me up all the while describing the leads and metabolic equivalents, blah, blah, blah. So they started the treadmill and I’m walking whilst the tech monitored the EKG. Then just as the cardiologist came back in the room she upped the speed. He looks at the screen and grabs the paper copy being spit out and not in any lackadaisical manner orders me off the treadmill and says we’re done with this demo.

!!! WTF?

Never did figure out what happened. 20 years later I had a real exercise test and it came out just fine.

[DonDavis]

Hey Lee, long time.

Sounds like you have some great pointers here.

Originally Posted by LeeH

...5 years ago I had an abdominal CT...

If you don't mind, may I ask where that scan was taken?

And who/where are you being seen now?

PM me if to maintain privacy if you prefer.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

Hey Lee, long time.

Sounds like you have some great pointers here.




If you don't mind, may I ask where that scan was taken?

And who/where are you being seen now?

PM me if to maintain privacy if you prefer.

I can't remember who did the abdominal CT. My CAC test was done by Simon Med Imaging.

I have a heart catheterization scheduled in 2 weeks. Cardiologist, Rizaldy Villegas, says a CTA isn't indicated for people with high levels of CAC because the calcium interferes with the imaging, so the cath is the best way to see what's going on. Could be just lots of calcium in artery walls, could need stents, could need a bypass. We'll find out on 4.24.23.

[Tobra]

Good luck, don't forget get to skip breakfast.