700+ Coronary Calcium Score

I am 59, not symptomatic in any noticeable way but heart disease/ha's in all my paternal family without exception experiencing ha's around 50 yrs old. Been seeing cardiologist for 15 years. Score was 5 when I was 50 and 25 years into a regimen of statins, good diet and extremely athletic. For the last 10 years restricted to daily walks due to a back injury. Wondering how it shot up to 718 which puts me in 95th percentile for my age. Also worth noting my career has always been stressful and I have been something of a workaholic as a response to stress. Wondering if I am in trouble or a ticking time bomb. Wondering if it is time for a radical change including early retirement. I have read that scores of 1000 at my age have poor outcomes within 5 years or so...718 is pretty close. (Will be following up with stress echo next week) Would love to hear any feedback, trying to be balanced in my response to this news.

Thank you Susie, I really appreciate your reply and sense of the matter. I have a treadmill echo stress scheduled for next week, will keep the thread updated. I have a BMI of 25 and have always been there or under, and it has always been surprising to people I know that a multi-sport athlete can have triglycerides in the thousands, way out of range cholesterol untreated sine I was in my 20s. I have been on max oral doses of statins, fenofibrate, zetia and Vascepa for many years and still struggle to get numbers that are less than double the normal ranges on all those meds. My family genes are a case study!

For anyone else reading this thread, I also can report chronic muscle pain that I think is related to high dose statins over many years, even though my liver enzymes are in the normal range-that side effect is a real thing. Quality of life takes a hit, but I'll take the statins & pain over the alternative...!

Thank you for the strength HT. You are an important presence around here. I will get started with some magnesium - they were recommended to me by a nutritionist not to long ago. Musculoskeletal pain is unfortunately a chief feature of my existence. No PN or diabetes but both parents ended up there. I have a pretty good diet and fast intermittently, but can improve there still. Increasing my exercise and meditation time and trying to extract myself from the deadly work at your desk program that is making so many of us in this country sick. 2nd opinion scheduled and getting my notes together, and hopefully an encouraging result from the stress echo. Sending strength back to ya - NM

Yeah, urology!!! i hear ya!
The universe, well, let us tell it something, lol! HT

Thank you Dude A.!

I’m not on any calcium supplements but not on any other supplemental vitamins or the like either. Thanks sp much for your post and the very handy links, I will research.

A little late on my reply, just now checking back in. Following a word from HT I checked in with a second cardiologist who recommended a 3D Angio. It showed that I had a higher calcium score than the original 700; 1078 more accurately and little more worrying; but at most 50% obstruction in right descending coronary artery, so no need for invasive procedures yet, and hoping my attention to diet and exercise keeps me away from any stents etc. for a while.

I do wonder what the significance of percentile going my calcium score is at my age - in the 99th percentile which is a little scary.

Positive Vibe

My story is just my story. I'm an active, working 71 year old male. Last year my calcium score shot up to 1400. Still had no symptoms. My lipids have been controlled with Rosuvastatin for years, haven't eaten red meat in over 15 years. I needed a cardiac clearance for a lithotripsy procedure. The cardiologist gave me clearance but at the end of the visit I told her that occasionally when I am exercising strenuously I get a little light headed. She seemed concerned and ordered a stress test which revealed the same lightheaded feeling after 7 minutes. She ordered a cardiac cath and the results indicated that I needed quadruple bypass surgery. Got the surgery in September, there was no damage to my heart . It's now December and I feel great.

Happy to offer some ideas, PositiveVibe.

I'm sorry to hear your calcium score turned out to be a bit higher, but I'm also happy to hear there's currently no need for an invasive procedure! It's a good thing you checked in with a second cardiologist, following your discussion with HT. A second opinion is never a bad idea.

My calcium score was performed via CT. Perhaps that's how your first one was done, too? It sounds like your recent 3D Angio was a lot more precise. Is that a procedure where they inject contrast? I did a bit of Googling, but I'm still not completely sure.

Anyway, I wish you great success with using diet and exercise to manage the issue -- and, hopefully, perhaps even begin reversing it. In many cases, the human body has an amazing capacity to heal itself. Certainly, it's always trying to do so. Luckily, there are many things we can do to give it the best chance.

One other thing you may wish to investigate and discuss with your doctor(s) is the use of systemic proteolytic enzymes. This may be something with which you're already familiar. If not, I believe it's worth at least considering. Systemic (body-wide) proteolytic (protein-digesting) enzymes are different than digestive enzymes, in that they're taken between meals to allow the enzymes to lyse (break down) non-food proteins in the body.

Such enzymes can be contraindicated under certain conditions, such as when taking other blood-thinning medications or supplements, sedatives, or certain antibiotics. This is not an exhaustive list, so it's important to discuss their use with a doctor who understand the totality of your health situation.

There are many companies making systemic proteolytic enzymes. However, they are not the same. They can vary in ingredients, dosage, and efficacy. They can be derived from plants, animals, or microbial fermentation. Some are enteric coated and some are not. The pH range in which they work can also vary. This is something that warrants thoughtful investigation. While one doesn't necessarily need to buy the most expensive product, I definitely would avoid the cheapest options.

Some information to get you started: https://www.jonbarron.org/article/proteolytic-enzyme-formula

Best of luck!