A Heart Screening Test To Know About

Tracy Shulsinger • February 21, 2024

Heart health is a major concern for many people.  According to the Centers For Disease Control Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)  has been the leading cause of death since 1950.


Many daily choices are based on heart health.  These may include not smoking, exercising, limiting high fat foods, taking heart focused supplements/medications, heart medical tests, and more.

I’d like to share with you one of the best screening tools that can inform you if you actually need to make changes in your health practices because of increased risk.  A Calcium Score CT Scan which identifies Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC), a.k.a. plaque, takes images inside the heart arteries and reports a score. The higher the score, the more plaque, which indicated reduced blood flow through that artery and a concern for blockage in the future that can cause a heart attack.


In fact, this test was compared in a large study consisting of 6,696 people to assess how the CAC compared to using the standard of care data points, called modifiable risk factors, to assess CVD.. The following modifiable risk factors were considered: cigarette smoking, elevated LDL cholesterol,  low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. The CAC was found to be superior at detecting disease in individuals with no or low modifiable risk factors, so in their case CVD was not suspected but they actually were at risk. It showed similar risk results in people w/ suspected risk based on these modifiable risk factors. 

I also find the CAC score helpful in individuals with high LDL cholesterol who are being advised to begin medication for lowering cholesterol, called a “statin.”  Statins include Simvastatin/Zocor, Atorvastatin/Lipitor, Pravastatin/Pravachol, Rosuvastatin/Crestor.  In many instances their calcium score is actually 0, or very low, and they do not actually need to take medication.

The take home message here- the cholesterol number is not what matters most- it’s the effect or the behavior of the cholesterol. Is it sticking to the arteries and narrowing the passage of blood or is it simply circulating in the body?   At The Healing Collective we  love to say, “Test, don’t guess!”  In the case of the Calcium Score CT Scan, this is one quite inexpensive test (usually around $200) that can provide tremendous value!


If you would like to have a Calcium Score CT Scan ordered, please ask for this in your next appointment w/ Tracy, FNP.  Or you can schedule a brief 15 min. appointment if you don’t want to wait!


Wishing you so well and many blessings,

Tracy Shulsinger, FNP


Source:

Impact of coronary artery calcium on coronary heart disease events in individuals at the extremes of traditional risk factor burden: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/35/33/2232/622902

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