Been into Keto since Halloween 2024. Have lost about 35 pounds (should’ve weighed myself right at the start, but didn’t), down from about 230 to 195. I am a 5’-10" 62 y/o male. BP is down and I feel great. I have had high ldl cholesterol for years (hdl has been going up since on Keto and Triglycerides are good) and was actually on statins for a year or two probably tens years ago. Stopped taking the drug because it noticeably increased joint pain in my knees, ankles, and shoulders. I had multiple injuries to those joints over the years, from both sports and work related. Also, the surgeon who recently repaired my shoulder, as well as an ortho that I saw for a sudden short flareup of severe ankle swelling and pain, have both informed me that I have osteoarthritis. However, the joint pain is much less severe without statins.
Went to my General Practitioner in March, I’ve only been seeing him for a couple of years. Prior to that I went years without one. Since my first visit he has been on me about my ldl and during the last visit he recommended statins. I told him about my prior experience with statins so we agreed that I should get a CT Coronary Artery Test, also known as a Calcium Score. Had the test today and just reviewed the results online. My total calcium score was through the roof. Total Calcium Score = 2327. I realize that this test only identifies your RISK for heart disease, not the presence of it. But, that is a really high score as they say over 400 is “high risk”. I’ve had two discussions with my doctor about ldl cholesterol and the research which maintains it is not really a valid marker for risk of heart disease. He however, is still in the “reduce fat, reduce cholesterol” camp.
The results of the test will be automatically forwarded to my doctor. I know that he is going to want to put me on statins and get on a low-fat diet. That is not going to happen. Just wondering if any of you have further info on ldl cholesterol studies or your personal experiences with high ldl cholesterol as well as high Calcium Scores?
Very High Calcium Score
Start here. You can work forward or backwards from here. As my cardiologist said there is not a single study (RCT) that showed a statin is more effective in treating heart disease over a well formulated ketogenic diet.
There’s a lot of info concerning CAC scores (the good, the bad, the nuanced) on the forum. Search around and follow some threads.
Short answer: Calcification in arteries is actually the healing of soft plaque - which is the dangerous initial stage which can come loose and wreak havoc. Calcification represents “scabbing” and stabilizing the soft plaque - it’s also the only kind that shows up (i.e., is echolucent) on a CT scan used for CAC calculations.
Yes, your Agatston CAC score is high. It’s likely to reflect attempts your body is making to heal decades of prior soft plaque damage from inflammation.
Statins will NOT help anything that you’ve shared about your health issues. Period.
Some reading material below (highlights provided for convenience)
Statins-LowCarb-Aug22.pdf (552.9 KB)
StatinAdherence-CVD.pdf (413.4 KB)
High Coronary Calcium (CT) test score
My research on this topic (done some time ago) suggested that however high your calcium score, your most important marker to measure is your increase in calcium. If you can arrest the increase in the score, you minimise the cardiac event risk.
How do you do that? I remember listening/viewing some podcasts/YT vids of people that had reduced their high calcium score (admittedly not by much, but IMHO reducing the calcium is the healthiest thing you can do). In general, the strategy was to minimise inflammation, and that meant as low carb a diet as possible. I am pretty sure that one of those vids was with Ivor Cummins.
Personally, if I had that high a CAC score (mine was actually 10 with a current LDL level of 450!) I would go strict carnivore, do some serious meditation, and do some exercise every day. I would never take a statin. Poison.
The only qualifier I’d add is that the calcium reflects only hard plaque which is the healing of non-echolucent soft plaque - which is the danger if it comes loose.
As such, while no (soft) plaque is best, the calcified plaque (which is echolucent and shows up on a CT scan) is evidence of previously soft plaque that has since been immobilized.
And so things are more nuanced than simply saying that “no plaque” is best given the difference in which stage of plaque is dangerous and which shows up on a CAC test.
Hope this isn’t too fine a point on things.