As most of you that keep up with my blog know, over the past 24 months or so I’ve worked diligently on reversing the type two diabetes that I have long been diagnosed with. I started out with an A1C count just under 10 and since then, I’ve been able to normalize my A1C count, still on the higher side of normal; however, I am due another full blood test soon and will update everyone then (I am hoping for a 4.9). Simultaneously of course, I’ve dropped 170 pounds. However, I was very busy trying to lose weight and I knew that I had blood pressure issues, but I never really knew the extent of where my heart health was.
As I’ve been on my fitness journey, I’ve certainly improved some of the markers regarding heart health. For example, I’ve improved my blood pressure greatly. I’ve definitely improved my resting heart rate significantly, and my recovery rate when exercising has also improved significantly. However, I have not really done a real scan to look at what kind of damage has been done to my heart until recently. Last week I did a CAC scan which measures and determines how much calcification via plaque has been created in one’s arteries, specifically around your heart. This is also referred to as a “heart scan” and stands for “coronary artery calcium”.
The ranges for this are interesting and I’ve been studying why they vary in the manner that they do. If you score a 0, then that’s perfect with zero signs of calcium present in the coronary arteries – a score of 1 to 10 on this scale, means you are at low risk, or that you have a less than a 10% chance of heart disease. Then, if you score an 11 to 99, you have “mild” calcium deposits, which is still a good score. If you score between 100 and 399 then you are facing a moderate risk of incurring either a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. Anything between 400 and 999 is considered “severe” and if you score anything from 1,000 and over, then you have a 25% chance of having a heart attack within a year. So, you can imagine why I found the ranges a little bit difficult to interpret. In any event my score came back at a 128. This means that technically I have coronary artery disease, generically known as heart disease. I have attached both my score, scale and results for your viewing.
I am kicking myself in the ass because I wish I would’ve done this test when I was weighing 465 pounds so that I had something to compare by. Interestingly, for decades now the “experts” have said that you cannot reverse the calcification once it is settled or present in your arteries. You can only prevent it from further worsening. Now, the experts have also said that cholesterol was the driver behind this process and of course we now know that there really is no such thing as good or bad cholesterol; furthermore, we also know that cholesterol has nothing to do with the calcification process in terms of it being the culprit (Click Here to see an informative video on this topic). With respect to reversing the calcification process, newer evidence has come out that it can indeed be reversed. This is not some obscure study that happened at some obscure university in some Eastern European country; these are the words that came out of the head of prevention, Dr. Stephen Kopecky of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic… It doesn’t get more credible than that. Having said that, there are still today many doctors and other “experts” who do not agree with the two above recent findings.
I share all of this information to tell you that I am now embarking on reversing the calcification process that has settled into my body. Because of the radiation exposure when doing the scan, I’m going to wait 6 to 9 months before I do another scan however, we do know today that my score is 128 so we have a benchmark now and let’s see if I can get that score lower over the next 6 to 9 months.
It doesn’t escape me that many people do not like to discuss heart health – mostly because for many of us, it’s a scary topic and creates a sense of anxiety. We live life thinking, out of sight, out of mind – therefore, it can never be a reality. This is foolish talk – I want to state that EVERYONE over 40 years of age should know their CAC score – I scheduled my own scan at Baylor Scott White in Plano and I paid out of pocket – it was only $79.00. Information is power and the more you know about yourself, the more empowered you become – fear not!
Your thoughts, well wishes and prayers are welcomed and coveted… Please and thank you.
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