What To Expect From A Heart Calcium CT Scan

Your cholesterol numbers can be “fine for years” until one day they’re not, and that uncertainty messes with your confidence. We get real about what it looks like to advocate for yourself early, stay consistent with physicals and blood work, and use preventive screening to understand your heart health before symptoms show up.

We share a personal story behind getting a coronary calcium scan, a quick CT scan that checks for calcium deposits in the coronary arteries. We explain why a nurse practitioner might recommend it when cholesterol runs high, especially when genetics are part of the picture. You’ll hear what the appointment actually feels like, how to prepare (including the no-caffeine reminder), what happens with the sensor patches, and why the scan itself is usually only about 10 to 15 minutes with a couple short breath holds.

Then we break down the Agatston score so the numbers mean something: what a score of zero indicates, what higher ranges can suggest about coronary artery disease, and how results can guide follow-up conversations with your medical provider. If you’ve been wondering whether a heart calcium scan could help you make smarter decisions about lifestyle, labs, and long-term prevention, this is the clear, practical walkthrough you’ve been looking for.

Subscribe to Words of Wellness, share this with a friend who worries about cholesterol, and leave a rating and review so more people can find preventive heart health guidance that actually makes sense.

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Transcript

A Quick Heads Up On Testing

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Just wanted to let you all know about it. So, therefore, if you at some point have the same procedure done, you can go in having a little bit better understanding of what to expect. And also, I want to encourage you to possibly have it done at some point if there's a concern about your cholesterol or triglycerides or maybe family history, whatever the case may be.

Feeling Overwhelmed By Wellness Advice

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Do you get confused by all of the information that barges us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated, or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing? What foods you should or should not be eating? How to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being?

Why This Podcast Exists

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Hello everyone, I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries, and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more. To share tips, education, and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker, and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you. To bring in guests who can share their journeys so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness, and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life and that you will, we all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives full of energy, happiness, and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today. Hi

Staying On Top Of Checkups

SPEAKER_00 2:02

my friends, welcome back to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly and I will be your host. And I am jumping into a special episode today because I want to share with you all something a little bit personal. And I've been talking about it. I've been sharing a little bit here on my podcast, a little bit on social media, but I've been really talking a lot lately about staying on top of our physicals, our checkups, having our lab work done, our blood work done. And I think it's just so critical, especially as we get older, we want to stay ahead of any health issues that could present themselves later on in life. And I talk a lot about prevention and I talk a lot about being proactive and advocating for yourself and your health. And I know that that has been a conversation that has been repeated on my podcast, just not by myself, but also by guests that I have had on the podcast.

My Cholesterol History And Genetics

SPEAKER_00 3:11

So I wanted to share that for many years, my cholesterol has been on the higher side. And on the positive side, I always have had my HDLs, the high density lipoproteins, high. And those are the ones you want to have a little a little bit higher, where you want the LDLs, the low density lipoproteins, to be on the lower end. And the high density lipoproteins, the HDLs, kind of help help things move through your body when it comes to our cholesterol. And so when you exercise and you take care of yourself and you eat healthy and do all the things, usually those ratios are on the healthy side. Now, given the fact my overall cholesterol has been on the high end, my nurse practitioner has always felt that it was genetic. And recently she requested that I have a certain procedure done. And I am grateful to her because I think it's really important for us to be very preventative, to be proactive, to advocate for ourselves. And as we get older, it's me, it's more important to do so, to be ahead of any potential health issues that could present themselves in the future. And so I am all about being preventative. And I've talked about this for years, uh, especially with the health issues my mom and dad both faced. And so I'm always talking about taking steps that we can take now to prevent any issues later.

What A Coronary Calcium Scan Is

SPEAKER_00 5:00

So with that being said, I recently had a coronary calcium scan performed. This is a CT scan, and it is a scan of the heart, and it basically looks to make sure if there are any calcium deposits in the arteries. Is there any buildup starting to happen or happening around the heart within the arteries? And so it's basically done for that purpose, to check for calcium in the arteries and to also help diagnose if there is any beginning stages of coronary heart disease. And coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease specifically, um is a common heart condition, and that's when calcium and fats and other substances uh build up in the arteries, which then can cause plaque, which then over time can cause blockage, and and that could be very dangerous uh down the road. So again, my nurse practitioner requested that I have this done, and I was all for it. I'm all for anything that is preventative that will give me an indication of what's going on in my body and if there's any changes that I need to

How To Prepare And What It’s Like

SPEAKER_00 6:30

make. So when I had the procedure done, there's not really anything you have to do to prepare for it. You basically they tell you not to have any caffeine before the test. Uh, so I had the test done in the morning, first thing. And you go in, and basically they put a couple patches with sensors on you. Um, a couple, like one was on my side, one was on my chest. And then I was put under the the scanner, and it's very short. I think it was I don't know how many minutes. I mean, the test itself was I think 10, 10 to 15 minutes. So it went by really quickly, and that basically was it. And so I basically had that done, and about I don't know, three or four days later, um my doctor's office called with the score.

Agatston Scores And What They Mean

SPEAKER_00 7:34

And and the scan, it gives you a number called an Agatiston score, A-G-A-T-S-T-O-N, Agathan score. And I guess some people can get the results the same day. Um, I got mine just a couple few days later, and basically the scores are grouped as such. If you have no sign of coronary artery disease, your scores is zero. If your score is one to ten, you have minimal signs of coronary artery disease. If your score is 11 to 100, mild signs, if your score is 101 to 400, then you have moderate signs. And then anything that's above 400 is considered to be extensive signs of coronary artery disease. So I am pleased to share that my score was zero. So I very happy about that. I, to be honest, was would have been con I would have been surprised had it been anything other than zero. But again, as we get older, these are the things we have to think about, and we want to be very proactive with taking care of ourselves and our health and having some of these procedures done to just ensure that we are where we should be with our overall health. And so I just wanted to share a little bit about the test and the procedure. And basically, that's it. That's all there was to it. And of course, depending on a person's score, that would be that would determine if there's any specific follow-up that needs to be done

My Results And Proactive Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 9:35

with your medical practitioner. And for me at this stage, I mean, I will, of course, continue to have my physicals done, my lab work done, my blood work done, just to make sure everything is where it should be, as far as that goes. And so I wanted to just hop on here and share a little bit about this test. And I did have a couple questions from a couple people about it. And honestly, if it's something that you have done, it's quite simple. And I think that I went into it not really knowing because I'd never had it done before. So there's always a little bit of that apprehensive feeling when it's something new. I knew it was a quick test. I did know that because the gal at the lab had told me over the phone that it's it's it's it's very quick. Uh, but other than that, I really didn't know what to expect. So again, they basically I had to put on a a uh a robe and I was on put on a table. They put the the the patches on me with the sensors on them, and then I was put under the scanner and was there under the scanner for about 10, maybe 15 minutes. And there's actually a voice two, I think it was two separate times that it asks you to hold your breath for a few seconds, and and then that was basically it. So that was really easy too. So anyway, I just wanted to share. I was totally fine after, was totally fine to drive home, do daily activities. I I I definitely went to the test with my coffee in hand, just FYI. I was prepared to be able to enjoy my coffee right after the test finished, since I wasn't allowed to have any caffeine before. So I kind of missed my little morning routine with my coffee. So, yes, so I I I did bring that with me and I enjoyed it right after the test was completed. So, again, just sharing about it, sharing the results, sharing what the numbers mean, and just wanted to let you all know about it. So, therefore, if you at some point have the same procedure done, you can go in having a little bit better understanding of what to expect. And also, I want to encourage you to possibly have it done uh at some point if if there is a concern about your cholesterol or triglycerides or maybe family history, whatever the case may be. So I just wanted to share this with you all.

Encouragement To Advocate For Yourself

SPEAKER_00 12:33

And as always, take time for yourself and your wellness on this day and have a beautiful, blessed rest every week, everyone, and we'll see you next time on Words of Wellness.

Share The Episode And Reach Out

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did. And if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review Words of Wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening. And if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries, and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy, and blessed week.