I have a very high calcium score. What next?

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

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.

No, I haven't. I avoid red meat but honestly do not like vegetables enough to try that. I also believe it's genetics and that my cholesterol would not go down enough. I ate poorly early in life and am not sure I can recover from that.

No, I haven't. I avoid red meat but honestly do not like vegetables enough to try that. I also believe it's genetics and that my cholesterol would not go down enough. I ate poorly early in life and am not sure I can recover from that.

Have you tried a whole food plant based diet? Cardiologist Dean Ornish or Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn have seen remarkable results with their programs.

Mine is 2,854. Everything is fine and I'm on statins. That's it. Tons of tests, and there are lots of people like us. I'm 56 and go to the gym EVERY day of my life, triathlons, crossfit, etc. So don't worry, be happy. 🙂

Re: Statins. I've taken statins for a long time and have had no reactions. But then I had a high calcium score of 642. My cardiologist casually said we'll double your statins to 40 mg. First of all, my stomach could not tolerate the higher dose. Secondly, I read that doubling the dose does very little to bring down your LDL. Mine was 80 at the time and we wanted to bring it lower. Reading that made me question my cardiologist so I asked around and got the best one I could find in NYC. This new fellow does NOT take insurance but I went anyway. He gave me a round of tests including a nuclear stress test and sonograms and told me my blood flood was fine despite the high score. He knew, without me telling him, that a double dose of statins would not bring down my LDL. He prescribed Praluent which is an injectable you take twice a month. It is expensive but with my very good insurance, the co-pay is $90 a month. I'll pay it because after being on it one month, my LDL dropped from 80 to 22 and my overall cholesterol dropped from 150 to 77. I still need to lose weight. I'm 5'6" and weigh 166 pounds.

Re: Statins. I've taken statins for a long time and have had no reactions. But then I had a high calcium score of 642. My cardiologist casually said we'll double your statins to 40 mg. First of all, my stomach could not tolerate the higher dose. Secondly, I read that doubling the dose does very little to bring down your LDL. Mine was 80 at the time and we wanted to bring it lower. Reading that made me question my cardiologist so I asked around and got the best one I could find in NYC. This new fellow does NOT take insurance but I went anyway. He gave me a round of tests including a nuclear stress test and sonograms and told me my blood flood was fine despite the high score. He knew, without me telling him, that a double dose of statins would not bring down my LDL. He prescribed Praluent which is an injectable you take twice a month. It is expensive but with my very good insurance, the co-pay is $90 a month. I'll pay it because after being on it one month, my LDL dropped from 80 to 22 and my overall cholesterol dropped from 150 to 77. I still need to lose weight. I'm 5'6" and weigh 166 pounds.