high calcium, CRP

i am 49, eat a healthy diet, run 25 to 30 miles per week, and had a calcium score ct scan of 380 - 95th percentile.  my LDL is 180, HDL 74.  CRP of .4 !  had a nuclear stress test with good results.  family history - father quintuple bypass at 52 yrs old, did not have high cholesterol.
my dr wants me to take crestor and i dont want to.  i am not convinced that cholesterol is the issue.  i have very low inflammation iin my .4 CRP.  
i have read alot about cholesterol as a risk factor being based on shaky science, and that inflammation -- crp, homocysteine etc being the real culprits.  what are my options here?  statins scare me.  why would i have such a high calcium score with low inflammation?  is there a real heart attack risk?

[kenkeith]

QUOTE:...."why would i have such a high calcium score with low inflammation?  is there a real heart attack risk?"

Your calcium score indicates a moderate degree of risk for a heart event.  And CRP may be insignificant (at least interactively), as studies have shown that CRP and calcium score contribute independently to the risk of a cardiovascular event.  A person with a modertae risk calcium score (greater than 20 percent in 10 years) should be treated intensively regardless of hs-CRP levels....especially with a family history of heart disease, you may want to leave it to your doctor of the risk/ benefit with statins.  

[azbutterfly]

I've eaten healthy all of my life, as well as exercised.  My calcium score is over 600!  I'm thin, active, etc..  Very odd.  I'm seeing a cardiologist after a shortness of breath episode I had last weekend.  I am a former smoker who has quite 4 years ago.  I've always stayed active.  "Also," I've had grave's disease in the past and have read that hyperthyroidism can produce extra calcium levels in the body which would explain my kidney stones in the past, the calcification in my heart, the extra calcium on my teeth that I have to have scraped off every now and then, and the small granuloma of calcium in my right lung, which we've watched for 5 years now and is doing okay.  I feel good, I have no wheezing, no coughing, no mucous, my lungs are clear as far as congestion, etc.

I just found it very odd to have a cholesterol level of 228, not that high really, yet I eat really healthy foods.  I'm sure a lot of it has to be genetic in someway.  The heart calcification really blew me away though.  I'm just very thankful that I had that 'episode' so I could find out about it and pursue treatment.  I had an angiogram while I was in the hospital but didn't need a 'stint' of any kind.  I'm doing a follow up with my cardiologist next week.  As a veteran, I have used the VA benefits for my health concerns.  The "VA's" chest scans has showed calcification in my previous scans yet they never told me to pursue it any further or gave it any importance!  How very sad that they never pursued those results on my behalf.  I didn't know....

Thanks for letting me share.  :)

[azbutterfly]

...as well, I was given Metoprolol before I came home from the hospital.  I don't have high blood pressure!  I didn't know what it was until it caused extreme pressure in my head, so I looked it up on the internet.  

My blood pressure is always around 114 (104) over 74.  I took two of the Metoprolol 25mg, in two days, and my head felt like it was going to explode!  I stopped taking them and the pressure went away. You really have to stay on your toes these days.  No offense to doctors at all, but I haven't had the best luck with them in a really long time.  

[Occupant]

I can only tell you that I had a much higher Calcium Score then yours (<1200) and it stands to reason that I have some blockage, but can't find out how much it is. Cardiologists don't like to do invasive procedures unless an artery is blocked by more than 70% - but how do they know unless they actually do it?
However, I like to qoute to you a comment made by Dr. Nortin Hadler regarding Statin Drugs:
"The most thorough study to date had some 3000 men with "high" Cholesterol levels take a statin every day for five years, while 3000 similar men took a placebo. When all was said and done, there was no difference in cardiovascular deaths between the two groups. Statins do reduce the risk of heart attack in those who have a strong family history of people in their family having heart attacks very young - but that's a small percentage of the population".