The One Thing You Should Start Doing ASAP if You Want to Lower Your Risk of Coronary Calcification

Woman over 50 giving heart sign with her hands

In movies, heart attacks are always sudden and very dramatic. While it’s true in real life that heart attacks can certainly be terrifying and can catch someone off guard (it’s not like anyone expects to have one), there are warning bells the body often sounds before one occurs. A warning not everyone may be aware of is having a significant amount of coronary calcification.

Never heard of coronary calcification? Here, cardiologists explain what it is, why it can be dangerous and the number one habit to start doing ASAP to lower your risk of it.

Related: Your Live-Well Guide to Maintaining Heart Health and Preventing Heart Disease

What Is Coronary Calcification?

“Coronary calcification occurs when calcium deposits collect in areas of plaque buildup in the inner lining of the coronary arteries,” says Dr. Gregory Pontone, MD, a cardiologist and Associate Medical Director of Ambulatory Quality and Physician Services at White Plains Hospital. He explains that coronary calcification is one sign of atherosclerosis (or hardening) in the arteries that supply blood, nutrients and oxygen to the heart muscle. 

Dr. Harmony R. Reynolds, MD, a cardiologist at NYU Langone and an American Heart Association Go Red for Women volunteer expert, doesn’t sugarcoat the dangers of coronary calcification.

“Plaque buildup puts people at risk of a heart attack,” she says, explaining that plaque can become unstable and compares it to a pimple being popped inside the artery. “When that happens, the blood nearby can clot on the plaque, blocking the artery. That is what causes a heart attack."

Dr. Pontone echoes this, saying that significant calcification can lead to the obstruction of blood flow to the heart and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks. 

Dr. Grant Bailey, MD, a cardiologist with South Denver Cardiology at AdventHealth Littleton, also says that coronary calcification is a risk factor for having a heart attack. "A heart attack occurs when cholesterol plaque builds up in the heart arteries and leads to a blockage of those arteries which provide blood flow to the heart. This process is known as atherosclerosis or 'hardening of the arteries.' The process of atherosclerosis involves cholesterol plaque depositing in the walls of the arteries," he explains.

According to Dr. Bailey, once cholesterol has been deposited in the heart arteries, calcium and minerals will also deposit there. "This is what is meant by the term ‘coronary calcification,'" he continues.

Related: The Is the #1 Sign That Someone Has a Healthy Heart, According to Cardiologists 

Dr. Reynolds says that a similar process can happen in neck or brain arteries, which can cause a stroke. “Because it reflects plaque, coronary artery calcification is a helpful marker of risk of future heart attack,” she adds.

Now that you know the dangers of coronary calcification, you may be wondering how you can know how much of it you may have.

“Coronary artery calcification is often found on a heart scan called a CT calcium score test, but it may also be seen on CT scans of the chest done for other reasons, such as to check the lungs,” Dr. Reynolds says, adding that if you had a chest CT scan for another reason, ask your doctor it showed coronary artery calcification. 

“If you do get a score for coronary artery calcification, look up whether it is higher than expected for your age, sex and race by searching for the MESA calcium calculator,” Dr. Reynolds suggests.

She adds that if you have more coronary artery calcification than expected for your age, even if the report does not say it’s a high-risk score, you should consider taking cholesterol-lowering medication to stop that plaque from getting bigger. 

Related: This Is the Worst Habit for Heart Health, According to Cardiologists 

The Best Way to Lower Your Risk of Coronary Calcification, According to Cardiologists

Clearly, coronary calcification is something to be avoided. So what’s the best way to do it? There’s one habit that Dr. Reynolds and Dr. Pontone say can help a great deal and they recommend everyone start doing ASAP: Eating vegetables every day. 

According to Dr. Reynolds, the reason why eating vegetables is so powerful in reducing the risk of coronary calcification is because a diet that includes lots of vegetables helps keep cholesterol levels low, which is crucial for heart health. People with high LDL cholesterol are more likely to get coronary calcification than people who don’t. 

In addition to eating vegetables every day, Dr. Reynolds says that it’s important to keep saturated fat consumption to a minimum since it’s associated with raising LDL cholesterol levels. Foods high in saturated fat include butter, ultra-processed baked goods and fatty cuts of meat. If you already do have high cholesterol, Dr. Reynolds says that prescription medication can help. “The medication will not take the plaque or calcification away, but will make plaque more stable and less likely to break or cause heart attack,” she explains.

Dr. Pontone says that other ways to reduce the risk of coronary calcification include not smoking or vaping, exercising regularly and keeping alcohol consumption to a minimum.

In addition to having healthy habits in place, Dr. Bailey says it's important to see your doctor regularly to monitor cholesterol and blood pressure levels. "Taking medications to lower blood pressure and cholesterol have been proven to reduce the risk of vascular disease and help people live longer if they do have high blood pressure or cholesterol," he explains.

Dr. Pontone emphasizes that understanding the importance of coronary calcification is crucial in the prevention of heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the U.S.

“By adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle, individuals can take proactive steps to minimize the risk of calcification and promote overall cardiovascular well-being. Regular medical check-ups and consultations with healthcare professionals are vital for personalized guidance and risk assessment,” he says. 

Your heart health is in your hands and caring for it starts by implementing healthy habits you can stick with. As the doctors here explained, eating vegetables every day is a great one to start with!

Next up, check out this list of 25 foods that are good for your heart.

Sources

• Dr. Gregory Pontone, MD, cardiologist and Associate Medical Director of Ambulatory Quality and Physician Services at White Plains Hospital

• Dr. Harmony R. Reynolds, MD, a cardiologist at NYU Langone and an American Heart Association Go Red for Women volunteer expert

• Dr. Grant Bailey, MD, a cardiologist with South Denver Cardiology at AdventHealth Littleton