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CT scan (calcium heart scan)

lindisfel said:
Dont know, but I would imagine the major cardiac centres do the scan, but I think it would be used as a tool for the sick, not a clarification for the worried well.
D.
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You would have no idea if you are one or the other without the scan..

Edit to add Have I done something to offend you? You seem particularly aggressive in your replies or do you just not like ex bankers?
 
No, I merely am drawing attention to scarce resources, health service funds being limited.
I go to see an endrocrinologist every year and they would not check my renin was more normal on a blood test to clarify if my medication was working properly.
They use BP, which is not recommend as the sole means of assessment by experts in the field because when the RAAS is triggered blood pressure and aldosterone rises.
Which is why healthy people shouldn't have a very low sodium diet as Phinney points out.
I had to assess the issues myself by a self assessment method and recommend other (cheap) meds to my doctor as a work round.

Some people go through the mill with the health service, a friend of mine died of prostate cancer because he was given palliative treatment rather radical, I told him what he could do. He wouldnt listen to me and didn't get the right treatment. It gave me no satisfaction at all a few years later when he came out of remission and was doubling his PSA every few weeks and told me I wish I had listened to you!
It was far too late for radical treatment.
It was the money with them they thought men with prostate cancer should grin and take it and were a black hole for money.

If you don't like my views on medical treatment Bulkbiker it's a problem for you, I am trying to help others see a more graded view, not a black and white one.
regards
D.



bulkbiker said:
You would have no idea if you are one or the other without the scan..

Edit to add Have I done something to offend you? You seem particularly aggressive in your replies or do you just not like ex bankers?
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lindisfel said:
If you don't like my views on medical treatment Bulkbiker it's a problem for you, I am trying to help others see a more graded view, not a black and white one.
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I think in fact our views are very similar.. that we should become "expert patients" and not rely on everything (most things even?) we are told by overworked and generalist HCP's. Do you agree with that?
You have certainly provided a decent amount of evidence in your posts.
As someone who has been in the fortunate position to pay a huge amount in tax over the years I find it a bit disappointing when I see a lot of that has been wasted on overmedicating people who instead should have been given decent dietary advice as a first resort. In fact it makes me extremely angry that so many had been damaged by this bad advice. You?
 
I have friend who I've been birding with to Shetland who was a banker.
He's a nice guy but boy he looks after his money!
This is a funny story, we had both booked flights to an Island on the inter-island service.
He paid for his by a travel agent back home, he was really upset when I paid for mine at the small airport. He was a pensioner and so was I.
Through paying at the airport I got mine half price but he didn't like it, he paid twice the amount I did. He gave the woman controlling the flights a real whinge!
Comparing for ages what I paid with what he paid through his agent. I thought it was funny, but the woman at the desk lost her patience and shut him up and said if you don't shut up you won't be going on the flight!:)
He was like a mouse after that! :)
D.
 
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Brunneria said:
Hi,
A while ago, @bulkbiker started a thread when he had this same test done.
I am afraid that I cannot find that thread, so have started this one.
If anyone finds BB's thread, could they link to it?

The CT Scan is a test (similar to an MRI, but on a smaller donut shaped machine, rather than the big tube machine that I had with an MRI).

It gives you a score, usually from 0-400 units, showing the amount of calcification you have on the lining of your heart arteries, and is (one of) the best ways to assess your chance of a heart attack in the next few years. It is much more accurate than the NHS QRisk test.

Anyway, Mr B and I trundled down to Rivers Hospital, Herts, and had the test yesterday.
I will respect Mr B's privacy, and not discuss his results, but am happy to talk about mine. :) if anyone has any questions, ask away!

The reason I had the test done was firstly, as moral support for Mr B, secondly curiosity to see how my highly insulin resistant body is handling my ketogenic, mainly carnivorous, high in saturated fat way of eating.

Anyone who is interested can research the relevance of a CT scan for heart assessment, by watching the Ivor Cummins youtube vids on the subject. There is even a TV documentary on the subject called Widowmaker.

Nowadays, the understanding is that calcification of the heart arteries is driven largely by chronic inflammation, infections, genetics, and autoimmune disorders, especially if they cause inflammation - and high insulin levels (such as many T2s have) is key here, since it often leads to inflammation.

Personally, I have psoriasis (chronic inflammation) and insulin resistance = high insulin levels, as well as gluten intolerance (which in my case causes joint inflammation, esp in the knees. And I have had most of those for most of my adult life. So it is a clear indication that I have several ingredients for brewing a bit of calcification.

So imagine my delighted excitement when the results of my test for the 4 heart arteries, showed ZERO calcification, amounting to a ZERO score overall.
I think it is fair to say that my low carb eating habits over the last few decades, keto for the last 5 years or so, and almost completely carnivorous for the last 4 months, is not 'stabbing me in the heart'

:D

These are the test results:





In the pic below, you can clearly see the white areas are bones - sternum and spine and rib.
If there was calcification of the heart arteries, you would also see white deposits in the heart itself.

I confess I am a little shakey on the anatomy of the abdomen, but I think that the pic on the left is showing heart and liver, and the pic on the right is showing heart. Either way, no white patches. :D

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Many thanks for posting this. I am away at the mo, when I get back I plan to get an appointment for a test. Personally I find the more hard data I have the better I like it. - I have to add congratulations on your low score !!
 
Tannith said:
Suppose you have one done and get a bad result. There is nothing you can do to reverse calcification in the arteries is there? You could try to ensure that it didn't get any worse but how? Increase your cholesterol level? Avoid fruit? Avoid other fructose? Is there anything else you can do?
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There are some interesting utube films on this subject- increasing vitamin d is of help - sorry no links at mo as I'm on my phone but worth checking out if you are concerned
 
DavidGrahamJones said:
Apart from the flouride in the water (I'm looking into the cost of decent water purifiers, calcification isn't the only thing it's connected with) and antibiotic use (6 months use because of leg infections caused by mosquito bites), I've actually been doing the "right" thing for some years before that scan. I might look at paying for another one or I could cheat and suggest to my GP that I'm having chest pains (I won't, many people more needy than me).
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This is the one I'm thinking of getting I drink nothing that comes out of my tap here as has fluoride added also a Type2 friend of ours was told to avoid tap water in our area by her diabetic consultant as fluoride is known to raise blood sugars.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finerfilte...s&keywords=reverse+osmosis+water+filter&psc=1
 
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Off track I know but @Brunneria had you seen this, I until recently had no idea of the link between Psoriasis and gluten and that it is a similar reaction to gluten as found in the gut with Celiac disease but in the skin many members of my family have suffered with severe Psoriasis hence my interest.

Psoriasis patients with antibodies to gliadin can be improved by a gluten-free diet.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10651693
 
JohnEGreen said:
Off track I know but @Brunneria had you seen this, I until recently had no idea of the link between Psoriasis and gluten and that it is a similar reaction to gluten as found in the gut with Celiac disease but in the skin many members of my family have suffered with severe Psoriasis hence my interest.

Psoriasis patients with antibodies to gliadin can be improved by a gluten-free diet.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10651693
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Thank you!
V interesting to get detail on the mechanism involved.

It was info like that (in a you tube vid by a nurse explaining skin autoimmune symptoms caused by gluten) that pushed me into going strictly GF a couple of years ago. And what a difference it made. I guesstimate my psoriasis improved by around 90% and my joint pain (mainly knees and hands) improved similarly.

Was delighted. Still am!

What was interesting was that the vid said that it can take 3-4 months to see the full benefits of going GF. Same as in the study link you just posted. For me it was around 6 weeks, but the improvements may have continued imperceptibly after that.

And now if I ‘transgress’ I get obvious symptoms for 2-3 weeks.

A moment on the lips, pain for weeks... it is VERY motivating! :D
 
My daughter's recently ex rat of a partner has Palmer Plantar Psoriasis I had been trying to persuade him that eating bread half a loaf at a time and going through carrier bags full of grab bags of crisps, and chocolate by the bar was doing him no good at all from any perspective but to no avail.
 
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