Understanding your heart's calcium score, why it's important

HOUSTON - As Heart Awareness Month unfolds, a local cardiologist is shedding light on the significance of knowing your heart's calcium score, a crucial yet often overlooked metric in assessing heart health.

Dr. Khaled Khalaf from Vital Heart & Vein emphasizes the importance of the calcium heart score in evaluating the risk of coronary heart disease. "If you have risk factors or if you have symptoms, 100% you should get screened and get tested," he advises.

About heart calcium testing

What we know:

There are two primary tests for assessing calcium in the heart: a plain calcium score and a coronary CT angiogram, which involves contrast in an IV. 

Dr. Khalaf often recommends an angiogram to visualize the inside of arteries, identifying calcification and plaque build-up. "I want everyone to know this. This is very important. You do not have to have calcium in order to have a plaque. For example, one of my patients had a calcium score of zero, yet he had a 70% disease that needed to be stented. So, if I had ordered a plain calcium score, I would have never known it. That's why I always get this test with contrast. It adds the angiogram part so I can see the inside of the vessel," explains Dr. Khalaf. 

What we don't know:

Many insurance companies do not cover the cost of a calcium score test, which can be several hundred dollars. Patients need to verify coverage before proceeding. That's because the calcium score test is not part of standard testing guidelines, meaning patients often need to request it specifically from their doctors, but Dr. Khalaf hopes that will change someday.

Dr. Khalaf on importance of testing

What they're saying:

Dr. Khalaf compares plaque to volcanoes, stating, "Think of these things like volcanoes, and I am a volcano finder. These plaques actually erupt on the side."

He emphasizes the importance of understanding what's happening inside your arteries: "It's the inside of the artery that matters the most."

He's pushing for this to become a more standardized test.

HEALTH: Houston man loses half his body weight, transforming life and career

"It should be as accessible as a colonoscopy. As an unbiased cardiologist, I tell people, why did they make colonoscopies a universal screening? Because it was a slow growing polyp that could become a cancer, and if caught early, it could prevent death. Isn't that the same thing going on in the heart? I think there's a big push not to make it a universal screening, because it's true that it would become a big burden to the health care system, meaning we're going to have a bunch of people out there knowing what's going on with their hearts. It's going to scare them. Stress tests are going to increase more. CT scans are going to increase. So, there is some political motive, I believe, behind not making it universal," states Dr. Khalaf.

Prevent heart calcium build-up

What you can do:

Know your risks. All of these things increase your likelihood of being diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD): a family history of CAD, men over the age of 45 or women over 55, a past or present smoker, a history of high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure, overweight, and/or an inactive lifestyle.

If you undergo a calcium score test and find you do have a plaque build-up, Dr. Khalaf stresses the importance of lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, exercising, and eating healthier to prevent a heart attack.

Get news, weather and so much more on the new FOX LOCAL app

More about coronary artery disease

By the numbers:

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2022, 702,880 people died from heart disease. That's the equivalent of 1 in every 5 deaths or 371,506 people.

Heart disease now costs our country approximately $255 million dollars per year (health care and lost productivity from death).

Dig deeper:

You can find out more information by checking out: https://vitalheartandvein.com/diagnostic-testing/ct-scan