Heart Health
Is calcium in my diet bad for my heart?
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Q. My recent heart scan showed a very high calcium score. Do I need to change my diet and eat foods with less calcium?
A. Coronary calcium scans use low-radiation-dose CT to measure calcium deposits in the coronary arteries, which surround the heart and supply oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to heart muscle cells. Calcium deposits in these arteries often accompany atherosclerosis, a common condition that narrows and "hardens" arteries and increases the risk of heart attack.
It's natural to make the connection between foods and beverages containing calcium and calcium deposits in your body. However, eating foods high in calcium does not affect what happens in your arteries. In fact, many observational studies have shown that people who get more calcium in their diet are more likely to have lower blood pressure and less risk of cardiovascular disease.
The exact reason why hard deposits of calcium crystals form in some regions of the body is unknown. Researchers have noticed that damaged tissues can undergo changes that cause cells to take on a bone-like structure. Because our bones naturally attract calcium, these tissues also might absorb calcium. When coronary arteries (or any other arteries in our body) develop fatty deposits, the artery wall next to the deposits becomes inflamed and damaged, which can lead to the formation of bone-like cells and calcium deposition. So, the calcium level measured in a coronary heart scan is a proxy for the amount of fatty plaque buildup.
Once the calcium has been deposited in arteries, you can't reverse it. However, you can slow the process by aggressively addressing the risk factors that lead to fatty deposits forming in your arteries. This means maintaining normal blood pressure and lowering your "bad" LDL cholesterol.
For someone like you with a high coronary calcium score, most doctors recommend a high-dose statin to lower LDL to less than 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or even below 55 mg/dL. Reaching that goal may mean taking a second cholesterol-lowering drug in addition to the statin.
A similar calcification process occurs in aortic valves damaged over many decades, resulting in a narrowed, stiff, calcified aortic valve, known as aortic stenosis. However, lowering LDL cholesterol does not help slow the narrowing in this condition.
Image: © Oleg Breslavtsev/Getty Images
About the Author
Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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