I have a very high calcium score. What next?

I'm glad I found this discussion as I was diagnosed with a 108 CAC score when I was 50 and had some anxiety and worry as a result of it, I had a hard time finding any support groups for it. Anyways five years later and hundreds of hours of research I can comment on a few things:

1. A high CAC score is not a death sentence! The first thing I asked my doctor when I found out about my high score was if he had any patients in their 80s' or 90's with calcium scores in the thousands and he says he has a ton of them. And every year for my annual exam I ask the same question, and he still has many patients with scores in the 4000s who are 90 years old. Change your diet, get on a statin, quit smoking and exercise regularly. My doctor informed me that my arteries were flexible and have possibly expanded to compensate for the calcification. I took a treadmill stress test and after a few minutes the doctor actually go perturbed and asked why I was there and told me to go home, so calcification isn't not the end of the world there are many factors at play. So live a lifestyle that will keep your arteries flexible.

2. I was put on Crestor 10 mg and my LDL went down from 180 to 65. I won't post the URL's but studies have shown that lowering LDL below 65 can actually regress arterial calcification.

3. I'm a Jim Fixx case where I run every day and lead a very healthy lifestyle but have genetic issues which my father warned me about for years. Don't hesitate to get on a statin, it will calcify your soft plaque and make it way more stable. My father has been on a statin since 1989 and is now 83 years old, so the stuff must work (and he doesn't have dementia or any other issues).

4. And I see a lot of comments about quitting drinking. I have a glass of red wine with dinner almost every night and I haven't been able to find any evidence that this can cause arteriosclerosis, EXCEPT for cases where the red wine might raise one's blood pressure. In fact I've seen studies that show that moderate amounts of red wine can actually be good for your heart. So that is personal decision but I did not make that change. I did go vegetarian, stopped eating processed foods and keep an eye on my total cholesterol, LDL/HDL, tris and inflammation levels. It's pretty simple: when you go the supermarket, buy everything from the edges of the market (fruits/veggies/grains/non-fat dairy etc), don't shop for anything in the middle aisles which is all mostly junk and high in sodium.

5. I'll report back in 20 years hopefully and see if I'm still around. At this point with the stain, knowledge about the disease and lifestyle factors now I'm not concerned about my calcium score but about other things like cancer and getting in car accident or slipping in the shower.

I would get all oils and processed out of your diet which injure the endothelial lining.

FAmiliarize yourself with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifd9vWnqXYc&t=6s

All oils trash your endothelium lining.
This is a great video of Dr. Akil Taher who had stents and open heart surgery - he just wrote a book - Open Heart. Incredible story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=260F11NCUS0

Dr Dean Ornish showed same results with his lifestyle change plan— https://youtu.be/m7_stiXsXRc

Medicare even covers Dr Ornish’s program

I'm glad I found this discussion as I was diagnosed with a 108 CAC score when I was 50 and had some anxiety and worry as a result of it, I had a hard time finding any support groups for it. Anyways five years later and hundreds of hours of research I can comment on a few things:

1. A high CAC score is not a death sentence! The first thing I asked my doctor when I found out about my high score was if he had any patients in their 80s' or 90's with calcium scores in the thousands and he says he has a ton of them. And every year for my annual exam I ask the same question, and he still has many patients with scores in the 4000s who are 90 years old. Change your diet, get on a statin, quit smoking and exercise regularly. My doctor informed me that my arteries were flexible and have possibly expanded to compensate for the calcification. I took a treadmill stress test and after a few minutes the doctor actually go perturbed and asked why I was there and told me to go home, so calcification isn't not the end of the world there are many factors at play. So live a lifestyle that will keep your arteries flexible.

2. I was put on Crestor 10 mg and my LDL went down from 180 to 65. I won't post the URL's but studies have shown that lowering LDL below 65 can actually regress arterial calcification.

3. I'm a Jim Fixx case where I run every day and lead a very healthy lifestyle but have genetic issues which my father warned me about for years. Don't hesitate to get on a statin, it will calcify your soft plaque and make it way more stable. My father has been on a statin since 1989 and is now 83 years old, so the stuff must work (and he doesn't have dementia or any other issues).

4. And I see a lot of comments about quitting drinking. I have a glass of red wine with dinner almost every night and I haven't been able to find any evidence that this can cause arteriosclerosis, EXCEPT for cases where the red wine might raise one's blood pressure. In fact I've seen studies that show that moderate amounts of red wine can actually be good for your heart. So that is personal decision but I did not make that change. I did go vegetarian, stopped eating processed foods and keep an eye on my total cholesterol, LDL/HDL, tris and inflammation levels. It's pretty simple: when you go the supermarket, buy everything from the edges of the market (fruits/veggies/grains/non-fat dairy etc), don't shop for anything in the middle aisles which is all mostly junk and high in sodium.

5. I'll report back in 20 years hopefully and see if I'm still around. At this point with the stain, knowledge about the disease and lifestyle factors now I'm not concerned about my calcium score but about other things like cancer and getting in car accident or slipping in the shower.

I have a question for you or anyone. When I was told I had a score of 642, I was shocked and then determined to bring it down. My cardiologist said it's not a test to take often and suggested maybe in 10 years. Has anyone here had a test go down after making changes and how long did it take before you had another calcium test? Has anyone had more than one? And what were the results?