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Who Needs a Ca Score?

By Mila McManus, M.D.

medical stethoscope with red paper heart on white surface
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Almost 50% of those who suffer from a heart attack had no known risk factors

Could this be you or someone you love? It is a rather concerning fact since it means many of us could be ticking time bombs without knowing it. Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States¹, so there is a good reason for all of us to be concerned.

We know that heart attacks ARE preventable. So what can be done to ensure you are not in that 50% who don’t have known risk factors but may have heart attack risk? 

The Calcium Score, also called the Agatston Score, for many experts, has come to be the best predictor of a future heart attack. Determining the Calcium Score is done through CT Scan testing lasting less than 3 minutes and requiring no dye. The test is a measure of the amount of calcium nestled in the walls of your coronary arteries that feed your heart muscle. It reflects the total amount of atherosclerotic plaque that has built up and is an indicator of how all of your risk factors interact with each other to cause heart disease.

A study of 44,000 individuals free of known coronary heart disease underwent the non-invasive CT scan of the heart for coronary calcium scoring and were followed for a median of five years to determine if any of them died of any cause (this is “all-cause mortality”, a good marker since three-fourths of all deaths are related to atherosclerosis). Those with a Calcium Score exceeding 400, but no risk factors, had substantially higher death rates compared to individuals with three risk factors and the absence of coronary calcium. In other words, the Calcium Score was more predictive of heart attack or other cardiovascular issues causing death than the conventional risk factors for heart disease – such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history, pre-diabetes and diabetes, smoking, being overweight, high triglycerides, and a sedentary lifestyle. 

Generally, all men over the age of 45, and most postmenopausal women would do well to have a heart scan to determine their Calcium Score, and especially if there are other risk factors involved. Most major medical centers do CT scans for coronary calcium and the cash cost ranges from $99-399. (In the Spring, Tx area, it’s ~$150)  It’s not covered by most insurance companies yet, and therefore is not yet considered ‘standard of care’.  For this reason, you’ll find that some doctors order this test routinely, while others don’t order it at all.  This test has been invaluable in my practice, especially since I know that cholesterol levels can be VERY misleading in regards to assessing your risk.

Ask your medical provider if a Calcium Score heart scan would be right for you.

Facebook Review from one of our patients whose decision to have a heart scan was life-changing:

“Living a healthy lifestyle; staying fit is my “modus operandi”. I’m not perfect, but I do eat right and avoid a sedentary lifestyle. I’ve been very active on the racquetball court for 35 years. Reason: Both my parents died early from Heart Disease.
A few weeks ago, my Functional Medicine MD, Mila McManus recommended I get a heart scan (due to my family history) to get a baseline calcium score. I paid the $140 for a heart scan and awaited the results.
To my surprise, my score was high. I saw my cardiologist and scheduled an Angiogram. Again, to my surprise, they found 100% blockage in one heart artery, and significant blockage in two others, I need heart bypass surgery.
I was shocked. I feel great, I have no symptoms, work hard, get plenty of exercise and did I mention: I FEEL GREAT!
But the images don’t lie. So, at 62, I’ll undergo bypass surgery next week.
I share this story for one reason only: Get yourself checked out! Even though you may have no symptoms and feel like you can take on the world, you could possibly be living with a serious heart event on your horizon, especially if you have Heart Disease in your family history.
Thank you Dr. McManus, you may have saved my life!”
 
References:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/heart-month_b_2598365

By |2021-03-16T21:49:39-05:00March 17th, 2021|Articles, General|