coronary artery disease

In my cardiology practice, I encounter a fair number of young to middle-age patients who are interested in screening for cardiovascular disease. For some, it's just curiosity, while others are eager to explore their own health due to having a strong family history of heart attacks or strokes, or because they themselves have had one or more cardiac risk factors (smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure). One test that often comes up is a coronary artery calcium score. This test uses a CT scanner to detect calcium in the walls of the coronary arteries. There is a standardized scoring system [...]