CT test and Cardiolite

[Joed9]

55 year old woman maybe 10 lbs overweight but no health problems.  I went on my own for a heart scan and found I am in the 78.78% ranking for a woman my age(very bad).  and my calcium score is 18.67 on my Left Main artery, with 1.50 on my LAD.  3 days later I went for a Cardiolite and it found a normal perfusion scan with no evidence of ischemia or infarction.  Back to GP who shows me my cholesterol went from 206 in June to 239 today, LDL from 80 to 146 and an assortment of other tests that just didn't make sense except that I had 2 deaths in July that stressed me out very badly. I keep coming back to the LEFT MAIN ARTERY.  Will meds,diet and exercise keep me out of trouble?  Should I consider some type of surgery?  What do I do next?  The stress of not knowing the right steps is causing me anxiety and that can't be doing me any good.  Please help me think this out.

[Sweetwaterguy]

    Good luck with your angiogram.  It is the best diagnostic tool available to determine the status of you pipes.  Good information will take the guessing out of the equation.
     I am age 64,  6' 5" and weigh 207.  This is down from 230 in December.  I am fully capable of 10 mile day hikes at high elevation in our Wyoming mountains, and maintain an active indoor and outdoor lifestyle.  Like you, I take a statin, daily aspirin, and vitamins.  Although I am not totally faithful to the South Beach diet, I do generally follow the concept.  
    Your situation seems to have gotten you attention--and that is a good thing.  You are fortunate these issues came before you had a major heart event.    
   If I have one message for you, it is to continue to do the right things to stay healthy--and don't forget to live life fully.  We know there are no guarantees, but it makes no sense to waste any time worrying.   The Agatston message is solid, and I have no doubt that following his program will allow you to live well and to a normal life expectancy.
  

[Joed9]

The ct scan showed calcium in left main, the cardiolite showed normal, I am on a statin crestor, aspirin, vitamin, I exercise and am following the south beach diet.  Alll this in 2 weeks time.  Now the cardiologist wants me have a angiogram on Wednesday.  Any thoughts on this would be apprecitated.  I've never had symptoms and am 54.

[Sweetwaterguy]

"If it ain't broke...."     I don't believe it would be medically responsible to prescribe drugs if it is not indicated.  I believe the message of aggressive prevention is to act quickly and aggressively when cholesterol levels become elevated.  When is the right time to medicate?  In my own situation, my cardiologist doubled my lipitor dose even though my overall cholesterol was 140.  A recent 64 slice CT scan suggested a couple of arteries were narrowing--40 to 70 percent blocked.  With that info, he wanted to try to get my ldl lower.  To me, that is aggressive prevention, and I appreciate it.    

[degrassi]

not statins with a normal cholesterol profile, though, right?

[Sweetwaterguy]

The South Beach Heart Program, a book by Arthur Agatston, is an excellent read and offers excellent advice on "aggressive prevention" of heart disease.   Statin drugs are a first line defense, and certainly you should talk to your doctor about taking a statin to reduce your ldl.  
     People who aggressively prevent heart disease, even with high risk factors, have every reason to expect a normal, healthy life expectancy.

[southerncharm]

south beach?  I don't trust anything about that place.  lol.

[Joed9]

I don't have any symtoms now.  However it didn't help when my sister's cardiologist told her my CT scan was "significant" cardio disease.

[Joed9]

My GP put me on a statin, vitamins and did give me something for this anxiety.  He also agreed that the "South Beach Heart Program" was a good program for me. I am seeing a cardiologist next week so we can interpret why my lipids are all over the place.  These kinds of blood problems can cause problems in that Left Main Artery, cause a blood clot and cause instant death.   Do I have time to resolve these blood problems?  Do people do pre-emptive surgery when it involves the left main?  If my doctor thinks meds am I playing russian roulette?

[southerncharm]

you are soooo wise :)

[jim62]

Doesn't your doctor have anything to offer as far as a treatment plan?  Usually mine will interpret any tests and then we talk about what needs to happen, if anything.

That would be an excellent place to start.

[Tarheelguy1967]

From what I've read, the cardiolite test is fairly accurate while the heart scan is somewhat controversial in its accuracy.  I've had good experience with the nuke stress test results - they've always been accurate in finding problems/ischemia with me.  If that test came out clear, I think you should be pretty happy about that rather than anxious.  Your cholesterol is high, but can be managed through your doctor with medications, proper diet, and exercise.  I recommend you start there and try and stop a future problem since your testing shows you don't have any ischemia or infarction.  Work on your cholesterol immediately, and hopefully you can prevent a problem down the road.  If you have any symptoms (which you don't mention), then certainly don't ignore them and talk to a cardiologist as soon as possible.  But in the absence of symptoms, you have the opportunity to try and avoid a problem.  Good luck!