Q. I am 62, and my cholesterol has always been borderline high. My primary care physician recommended a coronary artery calcium scan, and my score was 2,031. I didn’t realize the score could get that high! What do you recommend for patients like me?

A. That is indeed a very high
score, but scores in that range are not uncommon-in fact, I saw three patients with scores higher than 1,000 during one recent week. And the highest score I’ve seen was over 5,000.A calcium scan is a simple, low-radiation screening test for coronary artery disease. As I explain to my patients, when we see calcium in the arteries, that indicates the presence of cholesterol-rich plaque building up inside the artery.