← Return to Extremely high calcium score at 42 - is there any positive here??

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@callalloo

I'm going to make this point one more time then drop it. My former cardiologist is Dr. Agotsen, aka the creator of the Agotsten score aka the CAC. My current cardiologist worked directly with him for five years before the commute became too tiresome.

Both of them have seen higher CAC scores and did not consider them any kind of death sentence. Data is data but a data point is just one point. It's the overall collection of data points, and the importance of connecting the dots intelligently to make a meaningful pattern, where the art and science of medicine come into play.

The answer to the original question is: Yes. Value the CAC as an early warning signal and take whatever steps seem intelligent to mitigate chances of it increasing. I mean, what else can any of us do with any possible health glitch?

I once made a comment to Dr. A. about all of the people who have bypass and other surgeries, suggesting that medicine is lacking. His rejoinder was, logically defensible, 'we call that confirmation of medical advances.' Then cited a client who is still working and playing tennis, in his mid-90s, despite a first-ever heart attack in his 30s.

If you need help with taking positive steps without panicking, get it. Overthinking is not an asset in situations where it becomes an additional source of stress. Which, as we know, has a systemic effect on the body.

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Replies to "I'm going to make this point one more time then drop it. My former cardiologist is..."

Well said.

Greatly appreciate the perspective, especially given your first hand experience with Agatston.

Reading all of the lit that’s available on line on it is a deadening experience. Just one medical journal after another saying that the CAC score is:
* Peerlessly accurate and virtually never prone to error
* By far the strongest available predictor of future cardiac events - so strong that it will single handedly increase someone with an otherwise normal blood panel’s risk by a factor of 5x or 10x or even more depending on how high the score is

To read all of that and know that I have a 397 at 42 is just something I’m really struggling with. And to now be feeling absolutely wiped out by the statin that is supposed to help me here is putting my mind in darker places still.