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.