Higher risk.

[INFERNO114]

I am 28 years old with decent blood pressure and borderline cholesterol.  My dad had a quad CABG, with a 90,80,80,60 at 54. His brother died of a heart attack at 41.  Their father had a quad CABG in his late 60's.  My other grandfather had CHD in his 70's.  I grew up in fast food nation, and I am from the south, so i've been eating crisco and chicken nuggets all my life. I smoked from 16-25 recreationally but no more.  I had an echo done, and ran a stress test, and it showed nothing.  Obviously, I am a very high risk person.  Do I have clogged arteries already?  What does the echo and stress test really rule out.  I've been told that they can detect nothing, even though something exists.

[INFERNO114]

THANKS FOR THE INFO

[Momto3]

Echocardiograms are used to evaluate the heart's chambers, valves, wall motion and pumping action.  They are not effective for assessing CAD.

A stress test might show whether you have some ischemia, but is definitely not the test of choice for assessing CAD.  The gold test is the heart cath, but it is not routinely used for asymptomatic patients.  Have you discussed your concerns with your doctor to see if he feels an evaluation is a good idea?  I'm thinking he/she will first rely on helping you choose healthy lifestyle choices relative to diet, exercise and no smoking.  The fact that you have a "decent" BP and a seemingly acceptable cholesterol is good.  However, given your family history, it might be a good idea to work at getting the cholesterol levels to an optimum range for someone with a family history of CAD.