As recommended by the previous doctor I had and the current one agreed to (but didn't go to bat to try to get insurance to cover it completely so I had to pony up $99), I went for a coronary artery calcium CT on Thursday morning and got the results on Friday.
On this one, the ideal score is 0 but since I'm on high blood pressure medication and have borderline high cholesterol and am diabetic (controlled with a lower dose of metformin) and also because I have a family history, I didn't expect it to be 0. It turns out my score is 91 all in my Left Circumflex. The text said this:
Interpretation: Calcium Score = 11-100. Definite, at least mild atherosclerotic plaque burden. There are likely
mild or minimal coronary stenoses. The implications for cardiovascular risk are moderate.
and
This patient's Agatston coronary artery calcium score corresponds to the percentile range: 75-90th.
This means that between 10 to 25% of people in this patient's demographic group (women aged 55-59) will have
a higher calcium score.
It doesn't seem super bad, thankfully, and makes me more comfortable for when I need to schedule the hysterectomy. However I should make some other changes. I'm still leery of incorporating statins but I do remember that both parents took the low dose aspirin so I might get some. I also need to continue to improve my eating and also get regular exercise. Right now my exercise consists of cleaning out the old stupid apartment and then I'll get back to the old people pool at the Y.
Anyone else take this test?
On this one, the ideal score is 0 but since I'm on high blood pressure medication and have borderline high cholesterol and am diabetic (controlled with a lower dose of metformin) and also because I have a family history, I didn't expect it to be 0. It turns out my score is 91 all in my Left Circumflex. The text said this:
Interpretation: Calcium Score = 11-100. Definite, at least mild atherosclerotic plaque burden. There are likely
mild or minimal coronary stenoses. The implications for cardiovascular risk are moderate.
and
This patient's Agatston coronary artery calcium score corresponds to the percentile range: 75-90th.
This means that between 10 to 25% of people in this patient's demographic group (women aged 55-59) will have
a higher calcium score.
It doesn't seem super bad, thankfully, and makes me more comfortable for when I need to schedule the hysterectomy. However I should make some other changes. I'm still leery of incorporating statins but I do remember that both parents took the low dose aspirin so I might get some. I also need to continue to improve my eating and also get regular exercise. Right now my exercise consists of cleaning out the old stupid apartment and then I'll get back to the old people pool at the Y.
Anyone else take this test?