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I finally got my CT Scan & Calcium Score - Thanks Bio!

Rainmanisback

Active member
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Aug 23, 2012
Messages
522
I have been delaying this test for a while... until I saw Bio's post the other day and decided to get it done. I first started thinking about it when a friend of mine and amateur bodybuilder champ died of a heart attack about a year ago while sleeping. He was also an MD and only 45 years old who never tested himself.

In my case, despite a good diet, daily cardio and almost no consumption of red meat or other sources of cholesterol, I produce high amounts of LDL always over 200 total and over 160 LDL.

And for the last 2 years, I've been praying every night this is not the night I die... Dave Palumbo was the first one I heard recommending this test and I hope this motivates more of you guys to get it done ASAP.

I got my results today:

Angio CT Cardiac Scan and Calcium Score

  • Quantification of coronary calcium: 0

Coronary angiography
  • Anatomy: without alterations in the origin and trajectory of the coronary arteries.
  • Dominance: right.
  • Main trunk: good size and length. No significant disease.
  • Anterior descending: no significant disease.
  • Circumflex and marginal branch: no significant disease.
  • Right coronary, posterior descending: no significant disease.
  • Pericardium: no thickening, effusion, or calcification.
  • Extracardiac findings in a reduced field of vision: none.
  • Opinion: no significant coronary atherosclerotic disease.

I'm currently on a beta-blocker 5 mg a day, a statin to control LDL, and blood pressure medication to keep everything under control. My next test is an echocardiogram. I'm really happy with the results and relieved that I finally got it done!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just 10 years ago none of us on here would be doing this. Things have come a long way, in the right direction as as far as doing testing.
 
It was me that made the thread, not b-boy.

Congrats Rainman! Like I said, it's a cheap test and it will either give you piece of mind or get you on a path of recovery!! It's not the be all end all of health tests but it sure tells a lot.

Here's a list that everyone should check the boxes on...

- Monitor BP...it's easy, cheap and will save you from cardiomyopathy, heart attack, kidney failure, etc. It's amazing how many people don't take this simple precaution.

- CT Scan and Calcium Score...as already stated, a clear view of your arterial health. Piece of mind or path of treatment and recovery.

- Blood work...not the be all, end all but it certainly gives a window into general health through blood viscosity, kidney function, liver function, hormone levels, etc.

Just an easy list of things that one can be proactive with!
 
It was me that made the thread, not b-boy.

Congrats Rainman! Like I said, it's a cheap test and it will either give you piece of mind or get you on a path of recovery!! It's not the be all end all of health tests but it sure tells a lot.

Here's a list that everyone should check the boxes on...

- Monitor BP...it's easy, cheap and will save you from cardiomyopathy, heart attack, kidney failure, etc. It's amazing how many people don't take this simple precaution.

- CT Scan and Calcium Score...as already stated, a clear view of your arterial health. Piece of mind or path of treatment and recovery.

- Blood work...not the be all, end all but it certainly gives a window into general health through blood viscosity, kidney function, liver function, hormone levels, etc.

Just an easy list of things that one can be proactive with!
My bad Bio! And again thank you so much for your post.
I do have a question for you... with this test, we discard any issues with hard plaque build-up in our arteries. But what about soft plaque? Is there a test for that? I have been reading and it seems soft plaque can be more dangerous than hard plaque.... any thoughts on that?
 
Ok I was wrong the Coronary angiography CT evaluates blocage of both soft and hard plaque.
 
If you've had a heart attack or heart trouble you'll have a cardiac cath angiogram. Luckily mine always comes back clean. It's still the gold standard.

Doing this scan is a great idea though because it's non invasive and works fine as a screening tool.
 
These type of threads are extremely helpful and motivating.

Just so you know rainmanisback, there is nothing wrong with consuming cholesterol. In fact, it is essential. All your sex hormones are synthesized from cholesterol, your nervous system depends on cholesterol, most of our brains are made of fat and cholesterol, and the walls of every single cell in the human body are made of cholesterol. The proof? if you dont eat it, your liver will make it. Very simple. Now in your case, if your body is raising LDL, then you have to approach the underlying situation that its causing that. Drugs yes will keep the numbers in the range, but whatever is causing the phenomenon is still there. But I am extremely happy to see your results, definitely something that will make all of us go to sleep in peace at night.
 
These type of threads are extremely helpful and motivating.

Just so you know rainmanisback, there is nothing wrong with consuming cholesterol. In fact, it is essential. All your sex hormones are synthesized from cholesterol, your nervous system depends on cholesterol, most of our brains are made of fat and cholesterol, and the walls of every single cell in the human body are made of cholesterol. The proof? if you dont eat it, your liver will make it. Very simple. Now in your case, if your body is raising LDL, then you have to approach the underlying situation that its causing that. Drugs yes will keep the numbers in the range, but whatever is causing the phenomenon is still there. But I am extremely happy to see your results, definitely something that will make all of us go to sleep in peace at night.
Thanks brother in iron! Amen!
 
If you've had a heart attack or heart trouble you'll have a cardiac cath angiogram. Luckily mine always comes back clean. It's still the gold standard.

Doing this scan is a great idea though because it's non invasive and works fine as a screening tool.
Yes, and according to the scan I have not significant blocage... I asked the radiologist and she said close to zero, so that are great news because it means I have no hard or soft plaque in my coronary arteries. And as you know soft plaque is more dangerous than hard plaque.
 
Yes, and according to the scan I have not significant blocage... I asked the radiologist and she said close to zero, so that are great news because it means I have no hard or soft plaque in my coronary arteries. And as you know soft plaque is more dangerous than hard plaque.
Ive never had that test done before, but your results sound good. Seems to be a good test. Keep playing things like you are now and it shouldnt get a lot worse soon. Time eventually catches up with all though, older age. What is your age now? Look at your family too, heredity.
 
Ive never had that test done before, but your results sound good. Seems to be a good test. Keep playing things like you are now and it shouldnt get a lot worse soon. Time eventually catches up with all though, older age. What is your age now? Look at your family too, heredity.
Yeah bro, I'm actually not going to ramp things up because of the good results... I just did my last blast and felt like shit even though my blood work was pretty decent after taking into account all the shit I was taking... I'm going to keep things on the lower end of the spectrum moving forward low-dose testosterone and low-dose anabolic here and there.
I'll be 45 y/o in May.
No heart attacks in my family below the age of 75. No cancer only diabetes history, but I hope my diet and lifestyle will prevent that to happen. I'm taking care of my blood pressure and my LDL with drugs now and also taking a beta-blocker to keep my heartbeats under control.
 
Bumping this up. For guys who get this test done, do you simply request it at your primary care? I assume insurance doesn't cover it unless you have a documented need to get it done? Would a high cholesterol score cause them to do this additional testing?
 
Bumping this up. For guys who get this test done, do you simply request it at your primary care? I assume insurance doesn't cover it unless you have a documented need to get it done? Would a high cholesterol score cause them to do this additional testing?
Yes, in my case I requested this to my cardiologist he didn't prescribe it. When I turned 45 I wanted to know how much damage my use of PEDs and years of unbalanced total cholesterol have done to my cardiovascular system... so I paid full price for it as my Insurance was not involved... but your insurance should be willing to pay it if you and your MD make a case for it...
 
Bumping this up. For guys who get this test done, do you simply request it at your primary care? I assume insurance doesn't cover it unless you have a documented need to get it done? Would a high cholesterol score cause them to do this additional testing?

I was told by my doctor that it's hard to get insurance to pay for it...a proactive health measure, go figure...but it was only $150 out of pocket for me and I've heard it as low as $99. My primary made the request.
 
Just 10 years ago none of us on here would be doing this. Things have come a long way, in the right direction as as far as doing testing.

Yes, bloods are so cheap and fast now and really tell us a story.

There is no excuse IMO for not getting BW done. Maybe a needle phobia... :)
 
I was told by my doctor that it's hard to get insurance to pay for it...a proactive health measure, go figure...but it was only $150 out of pocket for me and I've heard it as low as $99. My primary made the request.
That's extremely affordable, surprises me. I get charged $350 every 3 months when my defibrillator remotely transmits its data to my cardiologist.

IMO,anything under $500 for a test like this is well worth it.
 
I have been delaying this test for a while... until I saw Bio's post the other day and decided to get it done. I first started thinking about it when a friend of mine and amateur bodybuilder champ died of a heart attack about a year ago while sleeping. He was also an MD and only 45 years old who never tested himself.

In my case, despite a good diet, daily cardio and almost no consumption of red meat or other sources of cholesterol, I produce high amounts of LDL always over 200 total and over 160 LDL.

And for the last 2 years, I've been praying every night this is not the night I die... Dave Palumbo was the first one I heard recommending this test and I hope this motivates more of you guys to get it done ASAP.

I got my results today:

Angio CT Cardiac Scan and Calcium Score

  • Quantification of coronary calcium: 0

Coronary angiography
  • Anatomy: without alterations in the origin and trajectory of the coronary arteries.
  • Dominance: right.
  • Main trunk: good size and length. No significant disease.
  • Anterior descending: no significant disease.
  • Circumflex and marginal branch: no significant disease.
  • Right coronary, posterior descending: no significant disease.
  • Pericardium: no thickening, effusion, or calcification.
  • Extracardiac findings in a reduced field of vision: none.
  • Opinion: no significant coronary atherosclerotic disease.

I'm currently on a beta-blocker 5 mg a day, a statin to control LDL, and blood pressure medication to keep everything under control. My next test is an echocardiogram. I'm really happy with the results and relieved that I finally got it done!
This is excellent! I'm envious though. Although my CCS was zero (< 1 "no identifiable calcium") and the general conclusion regarding cardiomyopathy and hypertrophy read as "nominal". I didn't get near the detail you did. My cost was $400. Well worth it but I would like to get the details you got. I'm going to ask if they were in my test results. My chart just reads nominal. Doc said means within acceptable levels. Thanks for putting this up. @maldorf what do you think? I see no reason why they would hide anything from me.
 
How does the ct angiogram compare to a nuclear stress test?
I've never had a CT angiogram. I've had plenty of regular old fashioned angiograms where they inject you with the contrasting agent and then do what looks like an xray to view. I'm not sure how they get the image.

I've also had the nuclear test they call a muga scan. That's great for showing which parts of your heart aren't getting good blood flow and which might be already dead. My cardiologist told me that it's about as accurate for ejection fraction as doing an echo.

I've also had a PET scan.
 

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