Track Your Plaque shows how to use CT heart scans as the 1st step in a proven program to slow, stop, even REVERSE heart disease!

In this issue:

• Another Track Your Plaque success story: A BIG drop in heart scan score!
  Salvatore didn’t sleep for three nights straight after learning of his heart scan score of 1102. Yet, nearly two years later, he nearly set a record for biggest (absolute number) drop in heart scan score.
• Heart scans uncover aneurysms
  We all know that heart scans uncover hidden coronary atherosclerotic plaque. But most people don’t know that heart scans also uncover aneurysms and plaque of the thoracic aorta, the major artery of the body that emerges from the heart and represents an important source for stroke risk and aneurysm formation. Just as early detection of coronary plaque empowers an effective heart disease prevention program, so does early detection of an enlarged aorta.
   

Hello, everybody!

Q: When is a heart scan dangerous?

A: When the results are misinterpreted, misused and give rise to misleading advice.

For instance, a man I know very casually (who didn’t know what I do) who had a heart scan score of 223. He had no symptoms of heart disease and his stress test was normal. Nonetheless, he was advised that “the real test” should be performed, i.e., a higher revenue-yielding heart catheterization. This hapless man received two stents. He recovered fine and I hear is doing well. He apparently also believes that he has, in effect, been successfully treated with hopes for long-term success.

The depths of misinformation that continue to drive conventional heart care continue to astound me. In truth, this man had no need for a heart procedure, obtained no benefit from catheterization or stents, and, of course, continues to harbor a disease that will progress, regardless of the stents. He ran up a $40,000 hospital bill and will, as a result, endure much higher insurance premiums until he reaches Medicare age.

Equip yourself with information that can help prevent you from falling victim to such trickery.

Track in health!


Dr. Davis
 

Another Track Your Plaque Success Story: A BIG drop in heart scan score!

Salvatore didn’t sleep for three nights straight after learning of his heart scan score of 1102.

At age 80, Sal prided himself on his vigor and energy. He managed his own household and half-acre lawn, helped with his many grand- and great-grandchildren, and otherwise led a full and active life. Aside from struggling with an excessive tendency towards worry and anxiety, he felt great . . . until his heart scan. The score set off days of worrying and ruminating over what he might have done wrong and whether his life was approaching its end. Sal was all the more puzzled because he had faithfully taken a statin cholesterol drug for the last 10 years.

That’s when Sal came to us. Our additional evaluation uncovered four new causes of coronary plaque despite the simvastatin he’d been taking. We proceeded to show Sal how to steer clear of the conventional low-fat diet to correct his small LDL pattern, added fish oil at a dose sufficient to correct triglyceride abnormalities, and vitamin D supplementation to correct a severe deficiency. Once empowered with these tools of prevention, Sal gradually came to grips with his situation and his anxiety subsided.

After following this program for 21 months, Sal’s repeat heart scan score: 588—a drop of 514 or 46.6%.


Dr. Davis: Sal is a great example of how limited in effect the standard statins + low-fat diet can be for prevention of heart disease and impacting on coronary plaque. Sal followed all the conventional rules yet developed enough coronary plaque to pose a risk as high as 25% per year of heart attack. It’s impossible to know at what rate his plaque was growing while just taking the statin, but, if his experience was anything like many other people we see, his disease was likely growing at a rate of 18—24% per year.

Sal did nothing extraordinary yet achieved an enormous drop in heart scan score. While he didn’t set a record on a percentage basis, he did succeed in reducing the absolute quantity of plaque more than anybody else in our program.

Why did Sal succeed to such a great degree? I’m not entirely sure. There may be genetic reasons (e.g., an exaggerated response to restoration of vitamin D levels) that might partly explain his wonderful success. Certainly, Sal’s ability to deal with the anxiety despite his nervous disposition helped, as did his generally optimistic nature.

All in all, we’re proud to add Sal to our growing list of Track Your Plaque success stories.

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Heart scans uncover aneurysms, too!

The aorta is the biggest artery of the body, the artery that first emerges from the heart and heads upward, takes a sharp left just below the top of the sternum, and then turns again downward towards the abdomen and feet. Along its course, the aorta branches into numerous major arteries to the brain (e.g., the carotid arteries), arms, abdomen, pelvis, and legs.

The aorta is also the recipient of all of the blood output of the pumping heart. Thus, when high blood pressure is present, the aorta can enlarge over many years, as it is exposed to the high pressure that essentially “inflates” this vessel. In addition, many of the same factors that trigger formation of coronary atherosclerotic plaque also create aortic plaque, and aortic plaque serves to weaken the wall. It is therefore very common for someone with coronary plaque to have either aortic plaque and/or an enlarged aorta. (An enlarged aorta is generally defined as a diameter >3.9 cm.)

An aorta that is enlarged poses long-term risk for developing an internal tear of its lining, a so-called “dissection.” This is a very dangerous and painful event that usually constitutes an emergency and is treated with surgical repair. The aorta can also enlarge sufficient to become an aneurysm and pose risk for rupture, which is also an emergency that leads to immediate surgical repair. Risk for both dissection and aneurysm rupture begin to risk when the aorta achieves a diameter of 5.0 cm or greater, with sharp escalation of risk when 5.5 cm or greater.

Plaque in the aorta, whether enlarged or not, poses risk of a different sort. Plaque in the aorta, just as in the coronary arteries, can also rupture internally, sort of like a volcano erupting and spewing lava. Of course, plaque rupture spews no lava, but exposes the internal contents of atherosclerotic plaque. Plaque rupture in the coronary arteries results in heart attack. In the aorta, plaque rupture releases debris into the path of flowing blood, and the tiny fragments can rapidly flow “upstream” to the brain, resulting in stroke, or to other parts of the body with consequences depending on where the fragments lodge and how large they are.

In short, recognizing whether the aorta is enlarged or contains plaque (signified on a heart scan as calcium) can alert you to yet another reason to engage in an effective program of prevention. By the way, as in coronary disease prevention, the conventional approach of “take a statin cholesterol drug and cut the fat in your diet” is miserably ineffective in preventing aortic disease.

Many people who have a history of aneurysms in the family are often frustrated when trying to decide how to get a screening test to see whether they, too, have potential. A heart scan can be used—at no extra effort or cost—as an effective screening test for aneurysms of the thoracic aorta. Many heart scan centers will also scan a few inches further down into the abdomen to screen for abdominal aneurysms, as well, an issue that commonly arises in smokers or former smokers. Some centers also offer a specific aneurysm screening examination that focuses only on the entire length of the aorta, from heart to pelvis.

(If your aorta is enlarged or contains plaque, this should be noted on your heart scan report. It may be mentioned as an incidental finding, though we find this anything but “incidental”!).
 

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Track Your Plaque Members

Watch for our new and upcoming Special Reports on:

Track Your Plaque Webinar on Vitamin D
Track Your Plaque held its first live "Webinar" on February 13th where Dr. Davis covered the evidence behind and importance of Vitamin D in your plaque control program.  In case you missed it you can access it in the Member Library under "Webinars." .

Our new Complete Handbook of Vitamin D

Next Track Your Plaque WEBINAR on Small LDL—Number one cause of coronary plaque: What it is; how to get rid of it
 

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