This ruins my day

[Klaus]

As a routine check, I got a heart CT scan.

The result was rather unexpected. The cross is me and it shows the degree of calcification compared to others my age.

Even though I'm now living very healthy, I was overweight for 20 years, so I guess this is a kind of late revenge. Plaque builds up over decades.

Luckily I discovered this before having any symptoms and I have enough time (and discipline) to manage this disease, such as aggressive cholesterol lowering. I already have the right lifestyle, so I don't need to change all that much (as opposed to, say, having to loose 100 lbs).

[jon-nyc]

Damn. Sorry to hear this but I’m confident you’ll do what you need to do to improve it.

Lucky you found out.

What made you get the test?

[Axtremus]

Indeed your transformation has been remarkable. Quite likely you will continue to stay healthy.

I will be getting the same scan done very soon. Hoping for the best not-too-bad.

[Andrea B]

Ugh. Are you on a statin?

If I may pry, what are your lipid levels?

[Mik]

We all have some calcification. The trick is to not let it get worse. I take vitamin D daily, and then I read that if you supplement D you should also take a K supplement to prevent exactly that calcification.

[Klaus]

@Andrea-B yes. But I'll up the dosage and add ezetemib. I'm still considering whether adding a psck9 inhibitor would be worth the 8000 Euro or so it would cost per year.
My lipid levels all look excellent, and have been for the last three years, but that doesn't undo the damage of decades before that.

[Klaus]

@jon-nyc said:

Damn. Sorry to hear this but I’m confident you’ll do what you need to do to improve it.

Lucky you found out.

What made you get the test?

It's not a standard recommended test over here, but I thought it would be good to test everything that has a reasonable chance of finding serious problems early (and not too many false positives), and the calcification scoring and the coronary angiography were a part of that.

So far it was a pretty good idea. The colonoscopy found a major polyp that had a good chance of becoming a tumor a decade later. Skin cancer screening found some early signs of skin cancer that were removed. And now this test lets me manage the disease before it has become a problem.

[Mik]

I wholly agree with that approach, Klaus. I’d rather discover things before they are a problem and I did the same basic test after challenging my doctor how do we know my heart is in good shape? Lack of symptoms otherwise? Turns out I’m ok, but it’s good to know rather than assume.