Dr. Davis -- Track Your Plaque

[cldlhd]

Hi Nocturne - I've had two CT angiograms and at each test they gave me my calcium score too: 0. I've had really high cholesterol, really high HDL and low triglycerides for the past nine years, that's ever since I started eating the kind of food in the 'good food' picture that Pellicle posted above. And my calcium score has always been 0. Make sure your lipid profile is protective, take plenty of exercise, and take vitamin K2 and vitamin D3 just to be sure if you want.

I'm not trying to be contrary or dispute the efficacy of the paleo diet but if you've only been on it for 9 years and your calcium score is 0 then that means either you didn't get any calcification in the years before you went paleo or it not only prevents calcification it reverses it big time. Either that or there are other factors at play , genetics I would assume.

 

[Paleowoman]

I'm not trying to be contrary or dispute the efficacy of the paleo diet but if you've only been on it for 9 years and your calcium score is 0 then that means either you didn't get any calcification in the years before you went paleo or it not only prevents calcification it reverses it big time. Either that or there are other factors at play , genetics I would assume.

Oh yes I know that ! I'm not saying my calcium score of 0 is to do with my diet, it could be to do with anything and there's no way of knowing. I am far too much of a 'scientist' to say that my calcium score is to do with the Paleo diet, but at least the Paleo diet with all it's meat and fat , and having a high cholesterol/lipids, hasn't caused me to develop calcification, that's the only thing we can say.

 

[cldlhd]

Ok that makes sense. Who knows maybe the diet does help prevent calcification.

 

[Nocturne]

Ok that makes sense. Who knows maybe the diet does help prevent calcification.

It's maddening for me as I try to puzzle out what the "perfect" diet is to deal with established heart disease, and encounter a lot of ideology and a lot of "who knows?" Of course pellicle's suggestion to "eat good food" is relatively easy to follow (and I walk about 10,000 steps a day too, pellicle!), but when your ship is sinking and on fire, you want to know the BEST path to follow -- and there is so much contradictory information out there, information possibly tainted with personal bias and ideology (for some, veganism can be a sort of religion, etc.). Were I in good cardiac health I could just run with whatever suited my tastes, but right now I'm terrified and not wanting to die.

 

[cldlhd]

It's maddening for me as I try to puzzle out what the "perfect" diet is to deal with established heart disease, and encounter a lot of ideology and a lot of "who knows?" Of course pellicle's suggestion to "eat good food" is relatively easy to follow (and I walk about 10,000 steps a day too, pellicle!), but when your ship is sinking and on fire, you want to know the BEST path to follow -- and there is so much contradictory information out there, information possibly tainted with personal bias and ideology (for some, veganism can be a sort of religion, etc.). Were I in good cardiac health I could just run with whatever suited my tastes, but right now I'm terrified and not wanting to die.

It can be a bit bewildering. Although I don't even know my calcium score I was told in 2014 when I had my CT angio that my one coronary artery, one if the important ones I think, had some plaque in it. The cardiac cath showed my arteries to be large and clear so the plaque was within the wall. The person interpreting it at the time said I had 50% stenosis in the area with the plaque , everywhere else was plaque free. Fast forward to 2016, had valve repair surgery and aortic graft installed in 2015, and now they say that same area has 30% stenosis. So I imagine a large part,if not all, of that difference is down to interpretation. They also said the annulus of my valve has some calcification which it never had before surgery. I asked if the new calcification was due to the endothelial disruption caused by the surgery and now that theoretically my endothelia has recoated those areas should it stop progressing there. The answer was probably and that it might be scar tissue being interpreted as calcium. Point is I understand your concerns regarding calcification but a lot is down to who is interpreting the tests. My cardiologist made me feel doomed and consigned to less of a life, my surgeon have me the opposite feeling. He said everything looked great 'in there' and judging by my BP, heart rate and test results I'll be around awhile. He basically just told me to eat well (but treat myself occasionally) , exercise, be happy and enjoy life.
Have you had a cardiac cath?