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Living with high calcium score
I am a 53 year old male. Just found out I have a CAC of 731. Most of it (699) is in the right coronary. I exercise 5 times a week , used to eat eggs every day (15-20 per week), cottage cheese and yogurt. Upon hearing this news, stopped eating eggs right away. Just trying to figure out what else to adjust. I don't have BP and am at a healthy weight of around 160 lbs for 5'8".
Doctor still has to reach out to me and I think most likely I will be put on Statins. I have high LDL and Apo(b), but triglycerides are under control.
The question I have is, how else should I adjust the lifestyle. I don't drink or smoke or eat meat. Should I reduce how hard I work out? I used to take my HR to 165 and whenever I did it I used to get a heartburn. I was thinking that the workout has triggered acid reflux but looks like something else is going on.
For those with high CAC , how hard do you work out? Should I stop hiking and running? Looking for some insights.
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Sorry here is the rest of my results and advice would be great. I'm a bit confused. I have an appointment with the cardiologist of a couple of weeks. I really don't want to go on a state . I've reduce
Y high sugar and trans fat, fat period. I drink nothing but water with neon juice and cumbers now.
FINDINGS:
Coronary anatomy: There is no evidence for anomalous coronary
arteries.
Dominance: Right
Left main: No plaques or stenosis. Normal bifurcation into LAD
and circumflex.
LAD and diagonal branches: The proximal LAD demonstrates minimal
scattered calcified plaque, 1-24% stenosis. The mid and distal
segments are patent.. 2 patent diagonal branches are noted.
Circumflex and obtuse marginal branches: The proximal left
circumflex demonstrates minimal calcified plaque, 1-24% stenosis.
2 patent obtuse marginal branches are noted.
RCA: The proximal RCA demonstrates minimal calcified plaque,
1-24% stenosis. The mid vessel is patent. The distal vessel
demonstrates minimal calcified plaque, 1-24% stenosis.
Cardiac morphology: The right and left atria and ventricles are
morphologically normal.
Valves: Normal CT appearance of the aortic and mitral valves,
without calcification.
Pericardium: Normal pericardial thickness. No pericardial
effusion or calcification.
Aorta: There is evidence of atherosclerotic disease of the aortic
arch.
Noncardiac findings: None
Impression:
Please see separate dictation for cardiac findings.
Noncardiac findings: None significant.
Addendum: The calculated Agatston score is 169 A.U. The observed
calcium score is at 97 percentile for subjects of the same age,
gender, and gray/ethnicity were free of clinical cardiovascular
disease and treated diabetes (MESA NIH database.)
Addendum:
Coronary artery disease involving the LAD, left circumflex and
RCA as reported above, with largest degree of stenosis 1-24%.
Noncardiac findings: None
Primary Diagnostic Code: NO ALERT REQUIRED
I'm 73 and have a high coronary calcium score; 805. Left Main 249, LAD 539, LCX 1, RCA 16, & PDA 0. I have been an avid runner for 50 years, exercise regularly, Resting pulse 38-40, Strong ability to exercise. Enlarged left Aorta (4.1). Angiogram shows 30% blockage in one area otherwise zero. Very health asymptomatic. On statin, shifted to a Mediterranean diet and reducing fat intake. Cardiologist has not expressed excessive concern other than diet, exercise and statin. Is there anything else I should be doing? Should I consider a more aggressive treatment and if so what?
@rcem my husbands is 5185 no symptoms. Discovered checking his lungs. Seems like that’s all we can do. My husband’s atorvastatin was increased from 10mg to 80mg and added a Baby Aspirin 81mg daily. He is 67 so depending on age and risk factors, aspirin is not always recommended. He also exercises and changed diet ( he loves red meat, desserts etc). Eating and eating out is not much fun anymore.
@rcem You're doing what you can. Exercise is good. What is your LDL? You want it under 70 at the very least, and ideally lower than that.
So many highly intelligent people who are motivated on this chat page. The reality is that the unknown stress appears to be non- producible. I went to Utube to get information and since July when my Cardiologist scared the H#ell out of me with my calcium score. Try Dr. Jamnadas on utube. He explains everything so well. I am a retired Optometrist (35 Years) and he is an excellent teacher. I started with my gut and then worked up to my fatty liver. I currently eat one meal a day and will turn 70 next week. Check out Dr. J and let me know what you think. Bri
@njx58
LDL 76. Been on Rosuvastatin 20mg for 18 months. Maybe my shift to a Mediterranean diet and no red meat will help.
@ladijoka I just ran across your post. I suspect you may have already discussed this with your cardiologist. On the chance that you haven't, my read is that none of your arteries have more than a 25% blockage. Patent means essentially clear I think. Atherosclerosis blocks the arteries. It grows over time and eventually some of the blockage will calcify. Rust/debris in a pipe is an analogy that is often used. For perspective on your blockages, I don't think an intervention happens until an artery is more than 70% blocked. So it seems to this non-medical person that you are in good shape. The 97 percentile is concerning. I believe this means that your score is higher than 97% of people your age and gender. Given the relatively low absolute score, I'd guess you are young? So my take is no real problems yet, but a red flag to start making the lifestyle and other changes that will halt the progression. But as I said, I'm no doctor. I have a 98% score but the absolute value is much higher than yours - I'd guess because of age/gender. Good luck!