Calcium in Arteries Is Telltale Risk Factor

For years, doctors have been devising ways to predict who is most likely to develop heart disease. This allows them to treat patients at the highest risk more aggressively. One accepted way of assessing the likelihood of heart disease is the Framingham risk calculator, which uses age, gender, smoking status, blood pressure and cholesterol level.
Two new studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association considered the value of additional risk factors for people who are neither at very high nor very low risk. One meta-analysis determined that the thickness of the lining of the carotid arteries in the neck does not help doctors make those decisions. In the other study, scientists found that coronary artery calcium could indeed help determine if a patient is truly at risk. The test is expensive, however, and exposes the patient to radiation, so it is probably appropriate only in the relatively few cases where doctors are having great difficulty determining how aggressively a person should be treated.
[Journal of the American Medical Association, Aug. 22/29, 2012]
You will find an overview of heart disease risk factors and ways to counteract them in our Guide to Cholesterol Control and Heart Health.