Well for this particular thing(high calcium score) I’m taking a daily baby aspirin and going on a very small dose of Crestor. Two very well respected cardiologists I use, have both told me that this combination should arrest most if not all of the build up in my arteries. I’m proactively heading off a future stint, or bypass, or fatal 100% blockage heart attack.
And I dont have exceptionally high cholesterol, usually a total score of 180 to 190, with a super good ratio in the very low 3’s. But that number does not tell the whole story, it just depends on how sticky your cholesterol is. So even a very low number could be bad, but no way to know just from your blood tests.
The new number for total has been dropped in the past decade or so, from the 200 number to 160 now. I think there is a lot of information now that lowering to that level and even lower, will net out better outcomes later in life…
Ah, so meds, thanks. My total CH has avgd around 160 over past 30 yrs and my HDL (good) CH has avgd about 76, so ratio of Total/HDL = 2.1 which lower than “vegetarian Boston runners”. 
However, I can see how the CA scan would provide more info.
i believe you can split the steps you can take to reduce your risk of sudden cardiac death into two categories: your body’s behavior; and your control of the environment.
examples of your body’s behavior is going into cardiac arrest. an example of controlling the environment is warming up before the swim; keeping calm and out of trouble during the swim.
as to that first category, i’m in the middle of this right now. i had a regular cardiac workup; followed by an echocardiogram and a stress EKG. i’ve got a plumber and an electrician on the job. the plumber now knows the general state of my heart. i go in to see the electrician next, because i have paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and i’d like to have a better strategy for that, when it occurs (anti-arrhythmia drug, possible ablation, possible cardioversion).
next up is a cardiac calcium CT scan.
but i’m with you; there is no sense in knowing the data if the data doesn’t change your behavior. in the case of the calcium score, this will tell me whether i need to go on a statin or not. my cholesterol is moderately high, but my BP is quite low, which to this layman says that perhaps my blood vessels are in at least pretty good shape. if my calcium score is zero, then i won’t go on a statin. if it’s above zero, then i will consider a statin.
beyond all of that, there are training behaviors that i engage in now that i believe better serve me as someone on the cusp of the 65-69 age-up. for reasons i can go into, for those interested, i’m not often into that top HR zone in my training. those are coveted moments that have their time.
point being, we’re not helpless. there are behaviors that we can exhibit in training, in race behavior, and in via medical inquiry. i’m just now in the middle of it, so, i can’t reveal the denouement of my process.
Ya, I do a lot of long (4000 to 7000 yds) relatively slow swim workouts at a moderate HR; I swim, kick, and pull all four strokes but I doubt my HR goes above 75% of max HR. Same for running, lots of slow runs of 4-6 miles. I go fairly hard doing pullups, dips, and pushups but those are never more than 30-40 sec efforts on a 2:00 interval.