https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/heart-scan/about...
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/ct-coronary-angi...
My dad’s doctor said he should get one, Medicare denied it, but he paid out of pocket to get one anyway. He found out he was 95% blocked pretty much everywhere and had a quadruple bypass. It likely added many years to his life and avoided a heart attack.
If you’re under a certain age (I want to say somewhere in your 50s), there isn’t any guidance for what normal is. If you’re in your 20s or 30s, I wouldn’t run out and get one. But if you’re in your 40s with a family history, or up into your 50s and beyond, it’s worth thinking about. I’ve also heard you’re only supposed to get them every 2-3 years, it’s not a yearly thing, due to the radiation.
(I am not a doctor)
The time to take action is long before you have a CAC score. e.g. Start tracking ApoB regularly, see if you have genetic LPa exposure, and avoid the foods that increase your exposure while ignoring the grifters telling you it's a nonissue.
Emphasis on non-invasive diagnostic screening as invasive testing like angiogram need to be operated by specialist and can take months to be arranged, and only done after incidents e.g heart attack.
ECG is excellent for generic top level CVD anomaly conditions for examples arrhythmia and ischemia.
(Edit: This is intended to be sarcastic. I agree 100% with the comment)
(Edit 2: Added the smiley face)
A lot, probably. You could sell people on the idea that it should be a part of your yearly health screening.
"And if you really care about your health you should do them every 3 months to catch problems early!"
or some such.
An ECG if it was just part of the normal yearly panel of things that get looked at I don't think ppl will stop doing it just because it doesn't find something right away
I do not consider the average HN commenter to be average.
Getting an ECG, EKG, TTE, CAC, carotid duplex US, lipid panel, CMP, TSH, 25-OH Vit D, B12 + folate were what my cardio recommended before appointment #2 on hypertension. Both of us are data guys.
Those are the same thing, did you mean to type something else?