Dr Kendrick' VERY long series on Heart Disease discusses calcification today. http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2016/0...disease-part-x/
Confident my DH won't die of heart disease now. I see my GP tomorrow and will get an order for CAC before month end.

My GP was happy to order to CAC (and impressed by the $99 price, so much less than Duke...like this should be a surprise to her :lol: ) The good news is that the score was low enough after plugging score/age adjusted and other coronary markers into all the Risk Evaluations she did not recommend statins or any medical interventions. Just improve lifestyle. My understanding is that once calcium is in the arteries it doesn't reverse...you just do not want to see progression. My score was 14 (Low end of Mild evidence of CAD) for plaque in one artery, so now I can worry why, what in my past formed it? Years of overweight, not enough exercise, too much calcium?....whatever, it is truly low on the scale, but I'm miffed at the all the 0s and 1s other LCers have ;) The test is super simple, hold your breath a few times, the scan is "open" so no loud noise or enclosed feeling. But as my GP said, you also have to be prepared that the test will show something and then she would advise statins. We know that wouldn't end well. :)

Score levels and further info: http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/inf...g=ct_calscoring

http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-pro...on/prc-20015000

Yes, and isn't this true of all medical testing?? I've got some tests lined up, but I'm not so sure I want to know.

Glad you feel reassured about your arteries now, in spite of the What did I do? questions about your past.

Thanks for the report, Janet. Nice to see a play-by-pay for your experience with the test. Congratulations on getting an acceptable score. At least now you have a baseline to measure against on future tests.

I planned on having one done by now. I lost the prescription that my doctor wrote me for it 6 months ago and I forgot to ask for another one at my checkup last week. I have a smelly colon test that I'm doing now and I will be returning it to the doctor's office in a few weeks. I'll call ahead and get another prescription. I would like to have a baseline, too. I'm aware of the possibility that I may not like what I see. But it does not do any good to bury your head in the sand. I am cautiously optimistic, though - after the last cholesterol labs I just had. :thup:

Being competitive, I am just miffed that DH (skinny all his life) got a 1 :lol:
Not sure where I read this, but a CAC, if you don't have flagrant evidence of disease, is a one-time thing. A high score (in the hundreds or over 400) may indicate that more invasive tests be done? If it is low at age 65, you're good. We all calcify as we age everywhere around the body (isn't that reassuring!) so over 75 this test is less telling.
http://www.docsopinion.com/2014/08/...-calcium-score/

Dr. Jeffrey Gerber's poster presentation at AHS16 on Challenging Cardiovascular Risk Assessment . http://denversdietdoctor.com/challe...isk-assessment/
Then download a high-Res .pdf which includes the CAC scoring.
http://denversdietdoctor.com/wp-con...mmins_Final.pdf

Here is a new study using the CAC score to analyze what Calcium supplements can do to our arteries. This study may be the explanation why my DH's score was 1 and I had a 14.
I stopped taking extra Calcium a few years ago, but now Searching for a multi without any.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/201...heart-arteries/

Hmmmph. Time to ditch the calcium sups, which I have taken conscientiously for many years. Funny how we just keep doing stuff our doctors recommended.

I like that this study included the fact that FOOD provides all the good calcium our bodies need.

I'm happy that I followed my doc's advice to get a calcium heart scan. My calcium number is Zero. But since heart disease is a consequence of many factors, I mostly just feel lucky.

I found a multi at Costco without calcium that looks good...but since when did so many Adult Vitamins come as Gummi Candy!? Another trend I missed until today :lol:

Yeah. That gummi candy thing was always suspect for kids. Now--so-called adults need sugar to make the medicine go down? Hey--there should be a song about that! :lol: Perhaps a couple of generations brainwashed by Julie Andrews??

I remember Dr. Davis talking about calcium supplements ending up in our arteries years ago. I'm happy now I've never taken them for long. I do eat a lot of veggies with calcium, no dairy though, and sardines.

I stopped taking calcium supplements after watching this lecture https://www.youtube.com/#/watch?v=jqMSi3qQBRY by Dr Fung

I've been taking them religiously, ever since I got a DX of osteoporosis from a bone scan. The next one, three years later, had improved to osteopenia, so I thought I was doing the right thing.

I'll cut back. Not quite ready to quit, but I lower by a factor of three.

And, when I have a physical next month, will ask to have a CAC ordered.

Shop around for that CAC. Local hospital had a Heart Special. Fifty bucks. This may be one diagnostic procedure where you can actually exercise consumer choice.

Usual story - my wife and I had our physicals and the blood work showed that we had high LDL and total cholesterol, but with good HDL and triglycerides. (We are both 66.) Our doctor says we should both take statins. And we both said no - not with more evidence like a CAC score or better blood tests like NMR.

A nurse called back to us to say that we could get a CAC from the hospital associated with the doctor's office for $450!! Each!

We found another option in a nearby town (Lincoln, NE) that only costs $119 each. Since Medicare won't pay for it, this is a much better choice.

So...in just a few hours we will have the test done. I will post the results when we get them.