Thanks for your reply! My new primary doctor recommended the calcium scan because my father had a heart attack in his 60s, my grandmother had a stroke in her 70s and died, and my LDL is a little high. My previous doctor had always looked at the cholesterol ratios and said they were all excellent so there was nothing to worry about.

I asked tons of questions which my cardiologist, thankfully, took time to answer thoroughly. The reason she suggested I reduce the amount of exercise is that I was exercising 6 days a week for 1-1.5 hours a day. She said exercise by nature is inflammatory, and I was not giving my body enough recovery time. She recommended that I follow the AHA guidelines of 150 minutes per week with my heart rate not surpassing 138. And all these years I thought I was doing wonderful things for my body for being dedicated to working out vigorously and often!

Thank you for the suggestions. I just ordered a free Lp(a) test this morning and plan to ask my doctor about the Apo B test the next time I see her. I haven't heard of the ceramide score, so I will be looking into that as well!