2) Get your tests, and control what you can. My thinking has evolved in the last 48 hours from "damn, I did everything right and it still didn't matter" to "I did everything right-- and that might have saved my life."

we had talked about the potential value in getting a coronary calcium scan. Basically a fancy X-ray that measures the degree of blockage present in your arteries. Reference. Based on my risk factors, balanced against my fitness level and age, we agreed "That's going to be important in the next couple of years, but we probably don't need that now." Boy, if I could go back and redo that conversation...

don't know what the OP is going to say about being under cardiac care, but I wanted to dispel misinformation before it starts....


if one desires screening for early heart disease/CAD, then a calcium score is the way to go--not an ekg or stress test
and I would only do it if the patient was > 35 years of age

There have been other threads to this same subject, and certainly it's on people's mind after Tim O'Donnell's experience, but I thought it was worthwhile to add one more story to the conversation. Friday night, I had a major heart attack, caused by 100% blockage of an artery. I live just outside of Kirkland, WA, so my time from hitting the floor to getting a stent in at our regional cardiac trauma center was less than 2 hours. Damn lucky, and grateful, for having that level of expertise 10 minutes away.

I'm 41. That's 5 years younger than my dad was when he had is. He did everything wrong (no diet, no exercise, smoking, all the things). I did everything "right" (monitoring and controlling BP and cholesterol starting at 25, great diet, massive exercise training). I did a recovery run that afternoon and had a steady HR in the 110s. I controlled every variable I could as well as I could, but that isn't worth #@*% when weighed against the genetics. And all of that is why I was on the floor mentally going through the list of symptoms, knowing what was happening to me, and thinking "It can't be happening *yet*." And damn, I got great care, but I did get real tired of the nurses saying "You're pretty young to be in here" and "Well, we can't really tell you to do anything different."

I'm mostly a long-time lurker, but I wanted to come here just to tell y'all the same thing I'm telling all my friends:
1) It can happen at any age and in any condition. I'm hearing now from heart attack survivors who started having theirs in their early 20's. Or teens. Age and lack of fitness are increased factors, not tickets to entry.
2) Get your tests, and control what you can. My thinking has evolved in the last 48 hours from "damn, I did everything right and it still didn't matter" to "I did everything right-- and that might have saved my life."
3) Know the signs, and don't be stupid and Type-A if you're having them. I was an idiot, and I didn't tell my wife what was happening even though I was *clearly* in trouble. I passed out in the hallway where she saw me. That "I'm fine, I'm not having a heart attack" cost me 10 minutes, and could have cost me a lot more if I weren't lucky.

Other than that, I get to add one more data point to the ongoing "yes, it can happen to us." Be well, take care, and see you at Maple Valley 70.3 in 10 months.

My thinking has evolved in the last 48 hours from "damn, I did everything right and it still didn't matter" to "I did everything right-- and that might have saved my life."

Ca Score Test of 1800....do I win?

that was when I turned 50 (2021). had done 4x 12' @ 100% on the trainer that morning. Will dial back the details but took several weeks to trust I wasn't going to die in my sleep, then transition to "not dying today so get something done", to ''get back to doing what you love but go ez all the time'', to ''dial in intensity but stay controlled and disciplined with how and when'', to my most recent decision to race short course locally next after several years of passing on registering for any race.

I do have to admit that I'm a little scared the lurking potential of an MI in the water despite my ability to ease into the start of any swim.

On a side note, I did find a few studies that demonstrated masters athletes with a long term history of high volume and high intensity had abnormally high scarring in the cardiac arteries and, by definition, higher calcium scores in the cardiac arteries. Prob biggest take home message from this note is that you don't have to be a pro to be unlucky with the neg consequences of too much training and too much intensity.

Having said all this, my cardiologist advised me to get back to it. Just don't go hard all the time, don't go hard if you feel 'off' during the day, basically be on symptom watch and be honest with yourself. He even dug into some of the wko history and liked that we can use timely intervals/RPE/recovery times....a trend of not finishing wko's or needing longer than normal recoveries...as a red flag.

I remember telling my wife "Well, this explains it!!! It's because I'm healthy!!!"
Her, "that's great, Hon. Here's your meds."

;)

don't know what the OP is going to say about being under cardiac care, but I wanted to dispel misinformation before it starts....


if one desires screening for early heart disease/CAD, then a calcium score is the way to go--not an ekg or stress test
and I would only do it if the patient was > 35 years of age

It's my understanding that insurance often does not cover this test.

If I am paying out of pocket, would I need a prescription?

I believe that's the very article I read.

Kudos. Gives me a bit of peace of mind knowing, possibly, why my score was so crazy high.

I remember telling my wife "Well, this explains it!!! It's because I'm healthy!!!"
Her, "that's great, Hon. Here's your meds."

;)

I am 64, train 10 hours of swim-bike-run per week and race regularly. My doctor suggested a calcium score a year ago. No family history of heart disease and cholesterol well within normal limits. Based on the test results I am now on 20MG of Pravastatin. A lung nodule was also found and I have a pulmonologist watching that for two years. I continue to train and race well. I highly endorse the calcium score as great preventative medicine.