High calcium score: I'm in shock

@anniehall56 I am also looking forward to reading about your follow up!

I am 78 and was lucky my cardiologist is more into prevention than invasive procedures. My score two years ago was 2500. Had the same test as you and the blood flow analysis showed my arteries to my heart are 90% open. Have you been on statin drugs? My RX is to try to eat right but most of all exercise and reduce stress in your life. CAC scores are not well understood by medical community and a lot of score is made up of stable plaque due to statin use.

I am currently 79 and just had an angiogram and two stents placed in my LAD which was 65% blocked and a stent placed in an artery that was a branch of the LAD which was 8% blocked. After the stents the 65% blockage was reduced to 0% blockage and the 80% blocked was reduced to 30% blockage.

I have had breath and fatigue symptoms since age 75 when hiking in Arizona. However several radiological flow tests showed 65% ejection fraction from the left ventricular, 3 stress tests with ultrasound were normal and two 24 hour halter monitors were normal. At age 78 a CT heart scan showed a calcium
Score of 800, 600 from the LAD.

This year my fatigue got so bad when hiking snd cutting oak trees an angiogram was recommended.

I am 3 weeks out from
The stent placement and don’t have fatigue any longer but I do feel like things aren’t right with my body and heart.

My cholesterol has been 139 total, 68 LDL and 65 HDL. But now take 80 mg Atorvastatin rather than 40 mg.

Same thing happened to me. Get a CT-A and then go on Crestor and Zetia

You have to eat differently and make sure you follow the 30 minutes day rules for exercise.

Can you confirm your CAC score please. Thank you.

Now it’s 700

thanks! I thought it was 800,600!! mine is 2267.

Hey @anniehall56 just curious if you had any update for us after you met with the research cardiologist?

Good for you. It sounds as if you've got a solid handle on managing your atherosclerosis. By the way, my high score (1,500) was prior to taking statins.

My own thinking about atherosclerosis is that, as you write, the CAC scores are not well understood, but do have a correlation with cardiac events. Most calcified plaque is stable and research shows that soft plaque is more likely to rupture.

In the past two years, I have addressed those factors which physicians are fairly certain are cardiac risk factors, The American Heart Association's Simple Seven. (1) I have changed my diet to a more plant-based diet (2) I have focused on reducing stress (I'm retired and didn't have much to begin with) and improving sleep ( I now sleep well) (3) I continue to exercise consistently, following AHA guidelines. (4) I take a statin, which has reduced my LDL to below 70

Even though no one is risk-free, taking positive steps to improve one's cardiovascular health is essential. And it's no one factor that solves everything, but a combination. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.