Calcium––Scoring a Powerful Tool to Help Head Off Heart Disease
Courtesy Medical Center of Plano, Collin County LIVING WELL Magazine
Heart disease is the nation’s leading killer, causing more deaths than all types of cancer combined. Each year, more than one million Americans suffer heart attacks. More than half of those who suffer their first heart attack this year will have had no prior symptoms.
A special X-ray of the heart called a computed tomography (CT) scan may be useful for purposes of prevention and early detection of disease. Such scans provide revealing images of the coronary arteries––the vessels that bring oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle itself.
After the images are captured, they submit to “calcium scoring.” This means they are studied for evidence of calcium deposits that can cause narrowing of the coronary arteries, and an increased risk of a heart attack.
The scan is painless, noninvasive, and takes only minutes to perform. Yet, by allowing a physician to assess how calcified the coronary arteries have become, it provides a direct measurement of atherosclerosis––the process popularly referred to as “hardening of the arteries.”
From the scan, therefore, it is possible to derive a reliable estimate of a person’s heart-disease risk.
The heart scan takes about 15 seconds to perform, and involves the administration of a low dose of radiation. The amount is equivalent to about one-third the natural radiation the body absorbs from the atmosphere.
Calcium-score screening may be particularly beneficial if one or more of the following risk factors exist.
- High cholesterol level
- High triglyceride values
- Tobacco use
- High blood pressure
- Family history of heart disease
- Diabetes
- Any of the above factors combined with a sedentary lifestyle
A positive score for coronary calcium serves as a good indicator of a person’s risk for certain kinds of heart attacks. A negative score, on the other hand, suggests an absence of the calcium-laden plaques that often block coronary vessels.
If you think you would benefit from a calcium scoring test, contact The Medical Center of Plano at 972-612-6500 to make an appointment.
