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Any women with high CAC scores?
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Jan 6 1:16pm | Replies (53)Comment receiving replies
My A1C has crept over of the last couple of years. Diabetes runs in my family, but I just assumed since I exercise, eat healthy most of the time and am not overweight I wouldn't have to worry about it. I guess I was wrong! I am having a stress echo on February 11. Is that different than a stress test?
Replies to "My A1C has crept over of the last couple of years. Diabetes runs in my family,..."
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Not a medical professional!
A stress test with echo will be helpful for you to understand your circumstances - here's a good explanation of the differences - https://vacardio.com/echocardiogram-vs-stress-echo-discerning-the-differences/#:~:text=A%20stress%20echo%20is%20a,or%20“stress”%20of%20exercise.
Regarding your concerns - please be calm as the calcium scan doesn't provide a one stop information picture. Ex: I'm 70, five years ago had a CAC test on a whim which came back at 1350 (I had just started on statins about a year prior due to age and history of elevated BP which had been controlled for 30 years). Stress test was excellent. Waited two years - second CAC was 2300 - another stress test with echo - excellent results, again. Waited another year and had a nuclear stress test. Again, an excellent outcome with over 75% ejection fraction.
So, high CAC could mean you have major blockage, or it could mean the calcium is not actually all in the artery, or it could mean it is in the artery and your arteries have positively remodeled themselves to allow suitable pumping ... I would like to completely understand my circumstances, but with good stress with echo, and good nuclear stress test and no symptoms ever, we are in the wait and see mode - I don't like this, and at some point may push for a catheterization to allow docs to actually "see" the arteries.