Heart Problems

I have always been concerned about the possibility of having heart problems. Most of the prior generations of men in my family died from some heart issues. Many of them died before the age of 60. A few got by, but even for those that did, they eventually succumbed to a heart attack.
For me good health was always first and foremost. I exercised, ate the best diet I knew to eat based on current information, and though I did smoke for some time, I gave it up in my early 30?s.
I was excited to hear about new heart screening techniques that became available 12 or so years ago. The Coronary Calcium Scan was first announced in our area, and it was touted to show a clear image of any blockage in the arteries around the heart. Someone with no heart disease symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath could be examined to head off any future problems.
Remember the famous runner Jim Fixx? I always thought about him. He dropped dead of a heart attack induced by blocked arteries, while he was on a run. This guy was a world class runner. So if it could happen to an athlete like that, what of a regular guy like me?
Insurance would not pay for this procedure. But I sure would. I made the appointment and went in to get my scan done.
A CT scan machine is used to rapidly make images of the heart and surrounding arteries. It can ?see? though the artery walls to spot calcium or plaque building up. This plaque is dangerous because as it builds and hardens it can block the blood flow, or can rupture sending a piece of calcified material to disrupt the blood somewhere else in the pathway. Finding out your calcium scan score tell you how much plaque you have and where it is located.
My first test result was great. A score of zero, meaning no plaque found. This was reason to celebrate. I had made it this far in my life with no heart problems, yet.
Five years later I had the scan done again. By this time, scanners were installed in many local hospitals and the price of this procedure was less than half what it had been. Still I had no insurance coverage. Guess they would rather wait for you to have a heart attack and pay up then.
This time my score was not a zero. In spite of my continued efforts at taking care of me, the score came back a 90. This meant I had plaque that was lining some of the artery walls. Not a high score, but any score over zero is a wakeup call. The higher the number is reported, the more the risk. There are men who scored over 1,000 and never knew they had anything wrong.
Checking with a cardiologist I was advised that my problem came from somewhat high cholesterol and it could be addressed with diet changes and nutritional supplements. I started a new diet plan, eliminating a lot of the carbohydrates from grains and especially sugars. I replaced these with more vegetables and protein from lean chicken and fish.
In a few months with my weight down about 14 pounds, my blood work looked significantly better, and future scans should hopefully show minimal plaque growth, or possibly less total plaque than found before.
What a great tool the CT Scanner is proving to be for anyone worried about heart problems.