They just put a heart scan machine in our little burg (or are in the process). That is really surprising as it is only the second one in Eastern Washington (the other is in Spokane). Who would imagine that they would put one out here in the sticks? I would really like to have it done but am going to wait until they are a little more experienced.

Hi Nancy! Here is their website: http://www.lifescore.com/

Thats the doctor in the photo.

Nancy,

There is a good article here about the pros and cons of the heart scan.

Moodflow here's and interesting excerpt from and article on VitD3 and heart disease.





here's the link to the entire article, i think you'll find it interesting since you are concerned with your cholesterol levels.

See what you think.


http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi70.html

Interesting. My dad has always had very low cholesterol but still ended up having a triple bypass almost 5 years ago. The doctors told him that his blockages were almost all calcium. He has never been one to be in the sun or take supplements, so I bet his vitamin D levels are very, very low.

Getting the scan was a good idea, because your wife is right - your doctor shouldn't have gotten you all fired up!

Alcohol can influence your triglyceride levels up to 24-hours after consumption, what it shouldn't affect is your HDL level - that, at 39, is low and a bit of concern if you ask me.

That said....you may want to get a VAP test to know what your particles look like for HDL, LDL, vLDL rather than just go with estimate numbers. You can order a test at http://www.getavap.com/

If you're not already taking some - consider cod liver oil through April and then fish oil through October for EPA and DHA (the cod liver oil has vitamin D, critical in the winter months).

Now not to be nudgy, but declining HDL and rising TG is usually a pretty good sign you're eating too many carbohydrates - in fact TG is the standard measure for compliance by every doctor I know who monitors patients following low-carb...and if they're up and HDL is going down, it's considered a red-flag of non-compliance.

You said you are eating a higher carb load when you work out - how much more is higher, and what quality of carbohydrate are you using? Are you loading pre or post workout? Or both? Have you considered giving enough time for a full keto-adaption and not relying on carbohydrates for workouts? You may want to read this to understand why time to adaption is important and the role of sodium-potassium in the process and maximization of energy once adapted - Ketogenic diets and physical performance

I'm glad to hear your heart scan rated a low-risk score....that's excellent and should ease your mind and let you focus back on other things!

Plaque consists of calcium, cholsterol, fibrin, and other substances, but calcification of atheries is not only due to calcium deposits, but also a sign of advanced age. Cardiac scan can detect only hard plaque, hence is Calcium Score, but not the soft deposits AFAIK. I wonder if soft plaque can harder over time, sort of become calcified?
I think calcium and cholesterol deposits form plaque for the same reason: inflamed and deseased arthery to beging with but how to deal with inflamation is another topic. I suspect aging and being a male or post-menopausal female has something to do with it too.
JMO

Well, I don't consider late-50's as "advanced age" but I agree that the plaques form in response to damage in the endothelial walls. However, I wonder if having an adequate vitamin D blood level will help "reclaim" that calcium if the cause of the inflammation has been dealt with?

And when new research was published it had to be lowered. For a doctor to ignore high cholesterol it would be totally negligent.

I am not sure it is all about vitamins D, and what it seem for us as late 50s - still young (thanks to all the perks that civilization and modern medicine can provide) Mother Nature may consider it "advanced" age. I beleive it is all about how young our hormones are. Plaque formation starts in our teen years also, but we don't die from heart desease (well, normally) even when we lack vitamin D and other vitamins when younger.
I believe it aging process starts as soon as we are born, and while we can reproduce, we "must" be healthy, but once we are don with reproductive functions, and our sex hormones decline, the host of symptoms just arrises out of blue. I also question how well aging body can abosorb vitamin D from sunlight and/or supplements, as well as other vitamins.
Inflamation occures often as hormones declines, so it is not only lack of sunlight, vitamin D, or high insulin that causes inflamatory responses, it is our DNA that defines how healthy we are and how long we will live.
Endothelial walls damage is just one small part of it, there are also inflamatory changes in joints and muscles, pretty much every cell has it.
JMO though, small % makes it to advanced age without contracting some ailment regardless.
JMO

Something like twenty, maybe more, years ago I had a severe bursitis attack. It one of those “if you cannot stop the pain, then just shoot me! Anything to stop the pain!”

The old Doctor that treated me said, “Did you injure you shoulder some time?” The reason was in the x-ray was a line of calcium in the affected shoulder. He further said, “We do not why, but sometimes scar tissue calcifies.”

I think this may be appropriate to the issue of why some people have calcium deposits in their arteries. Inflammation is the bodies response to an injury, or infection. Tissue repair is a function of the “responders” to the inflammation, be they antibodies, or the fat and cholesterol tissue rebuilders. That there is something different about rebuilt tissue is why we can see it as scar tissue on the skin, but we know that there are also differences when it is internal tissue.

The body adds calcium to bones when they are stressed, as we all know. But I think that other stress can also stimulate a calcium response. And certainly something that causes scar tissue would be stressing. Ligaments are most likely to become calcified (I have some of this problem) because they are “stressed” by the muscle they are attached to. Think of the legs of a turkey with those extra bones that fan out and stop, becoming cartilage near the muscle.

Does this seem plausible as a reason for seeing calcium in arterial plaque?

This is pretty much in synk with my own theory. So then exercise and taking calcium supplements can be counter productive after all. Who knows where this all calcium will be deposited . It also takes certain hormones (not onyl vit.D) for the calcium to get into bones, instead of being accumulated in artheries, ligaments, and kidneys. Scar tissues in heart usually form after MI, so it is no suprise that heart deseases progresses with calcium plaque.
Both physical and emotional stress causes inflamation, and only very laid back ppl can avoid them. There is also a wear and tear of ligaments and joints, caused by bad posture, lack of movement or the way we walk, stiff muscles and joints, occupational overuse, etc. Overuse and stressed muscles shorten, and start pulling on ligaments, causing inflamation. Emotional stress causes muscles to "clench" too, again adding stress to surrounding joints and ligaments, so why same thing can't happen to coronary artheries? IMO, inflamation is not completely understood by drs, the best they can do - is to use corticosteroids to combat inflamation and pain, but the meds alone can cause diabetes and cancer.Itis also very individual, I can attest that stress "hurts" literally, I started aching after a very stressfull event in my life without having actual arthritis or similar, and I bet many are familiar with this "flu "like pain that follows a stressfull day or event. I also have read that ppl with psoriasis are at increased risk from coronary death, even if they have no other risk factors. So if inflamation is very common it is better to watch cholesterol too certain extend.
JMO

I've noticed I have to be very cafeful with calcium intake, especially from supplements, due to bursitis, which flares up if I take a daily calcium supplement. Took me a while to figure it out.

I don't think we actually need any calcium supplements at all, we can get plenty from lactofermented dairy:cheese and yougurt (calcium lactate is the most bioviable), canned fish with bones, good broth made with bones, and green vegetables. They push all middle age and beyond women to take calcium supplements, but without certain level of female hormones this calcium will be just excreted (best sceanrio) or end up in artheris and joints. IMO, it is better to do weight bearing exercise and get calcium from food.

I agree Dina!!!!