Coronary calcium may predict death risk.A computerized X-ray image of calcium deposits along a person's coronary arteries Coronary arteries The two main arteries that provide blood to the heart. The coronary arteries surround the heart like a crown, coming out of the aorta, arching down over the top of the heart, and dividing into two branches. can signal whether that individual carries a hidden health risk, a study in the September Radiology suggests. Researchers enrolled 10,377 people, average age 53, who were free of heart disease but had at least one risk factor for it. These included high cholesterol Cholesterol, High Definition Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in animal tissue and is an important component to the human body. It is manufactured in the liver and carried throughout the body in the bloodstream. , a family history of early heart problems, high blood pressure, a smoking habit, and diabetes. All participants received a computerized tomography scan Computerized tomography scan (CT scan) A medical procedure where a series of X-rays are taken and put together by a computer in order to form detailed pictures of areas inside the body. Mentioned in: Head and Neck Cancer of their coronary arteries. For each person, the researchers created what they called a coronary calcium score on the basis of the size and density of calcium deposits revealed by the scan. Most volunteers had a score of less than 10, but some exceeded 1,000, says study coauthor Paolo Raggi of Tulane University History Founding/early history The University dates from 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana.<ref name="facts" /> With the addition of a law department, it became The University of Louisiana in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded . After tracking the participants for an average of 5 years, the researchers found that people with calcium scores of 100 to 400 at the beginning of the study were nearly four times as likely to have died than those with scores under 10. The 3 percent of volunteers with scores over l,O00 were 12 times as likely to be dead after 5 years, compared with the low-calcium group. Coronary calcium scores might prove valuable for identifying people who have no symptoms of heart disease but are at risk of it, Raggi says. --N.S. |
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