Anyone get a high CAC score and go for significant lifestyle changes

I am reading through some books I have on heart health but many are older publication date like 2005. There are newer diagnostics.

One book almost at the beginning has some wording with a box around it. "If you smoke just return this book to the bookstore and get your money back. Nothing in this book will really help if you continue to smoke".
 
Donald said:
I am reading through some books I have on heart health but many are older publication date like 2005. There are newer diagnostics.

One book almost at the beginning has some wording with a box around it. "If you smoke just return this book to the bookstore and get your money back. Nothing in this book will really help if you continue to smoke".
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#1 was always MD's who smoke and #2 for me are MD's who don't exercise.

Donald said:
The #1 thing one needs to do for better cardiac health if you are insulin resistance is to make lifestyle changes to become insulin sensitive. A CGM may help on that journey. I have the Stelo CGM.
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YES. This is where I'm going. Even if I have to buy it myself.
 
Pablo said:
#1 was always MD's who smoke and #2 for me are MD's who don't exercise.


YES. This is where I'm going. Even if I have to buy it myself.
Click to expand...
The Stelo goes 15 days vs 7 for Dexcom G7. The Stelo is a little cheaper on subscription. And you do not need to setup a new one immediately. The goal is to see how your body is doing and how it responds to various foods you eat.

It can remind you if you have a brownie. You want to stay 70 to 140.
 
I am reading BLOG from Dr Ovadia. He seems to be on page page as my thinking as get insulin sensitive and look at other factors beyond LDL (and then taking a statin).
 
Pablo said:
#1 was always MD's who smoke and #2 for me are MD's who don't exercise.


YES. This is where I'm going. Even if I have to buy it myself.
Click to expand...
Get you in the 5's club!

My niece is a Type I who never was able to control her BS until she got a CGM and an insulin pump. She would regularly have A1C scores in the 12's or 13's. With the CGM, she immediately got her A1C below 6.
 
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ripcord said:
Get you in the 5's club!

My niece is a Type I who never was able to control her BS until she got a CGM and an insulin pump. She would regularly have A1C scores in the 12's or 13's. With the GCM, she immediately got A1C below 6.
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I went for a 3 (diabeatus) month check. The doc was so floored by my lipids, LIPO A, blood pressure, 5 pound weight loss, and general alertness and tight physique, she poo-poo'ed my A1C. Hilarious. We all talked for a bit (RN included). It was a good chat.

After all that, they said the would give me a script for a CGM, but unlikely Medicare would cover - maybe, and they wrote it so as in stubborn A1C, considering multiple meds, etc. Indeed they said usually not covered unless A1C over ~10.

For a Type 1 to be under 6 is quite amazing but she probably has her insulin pump dialed in.
 
Pablo said:
I went for a 3 (diabeatus) month check. The doc was so floored by my lipids, LIPO A, blood pressure, 5 pound weight loss, and general alertness and tight physique, she poo-poo'ed my A1C. Hilarious. We all talked for a bit (RN included). It was a good chat.

After all that, they said the would give me a script for a CGM, but unlikely Medicare would cover - maybe, and they wrote it so as in stubborn A1C, considering multiple meds, etc. Indeed they said usually not covered unless A1C over ~10.

For a Type 1 to be under 6 is quite amazing but she probably has her insulin pump dialed in.
Click to expand...
Stelo does not need a prescription. But it's not recommended for type 1 diabetics and maybe not for type 2 diabetics with an insulin pump.

More geared for prediabetes.
 
ripcord said:
A1C > 6.5 is full blown diabetes mellitus not pre.

An A1C of 6.0 gave me chronic tendonitis and made me feel like doo-doo.
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So an A1C is an average of the last 2 to 3 months. Blood glucose level is realtime if you have a CGM other method to check (strip) or the blood glucose level at the time of a blood draw.

Not disputing your claim of tendonitis but would seem to be more the case when you had high blood glucose level on certain days.
 
ripcord said:
A1C > 6.5 is full blown diabetes mellitus not pre.

An A1C of 6.0 gave me chronic tendonitis and made me feel like doo-doo.
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Yes of course.

6.0 and maybe overweight could give tendonitis, but does seem odd.

I always feel good even when over 7. I have an odd feeling that I have been this way for a LONG time. Will never know.
 
Donald said:
So an A1C is an average of the last 2 to 3 months. Blood glucose level is realtime if you have a CGM other method to check (strip) or the blood glucose level at the time of a blood draw.

Not disputing your claim of tendonitis but would seem to be more the case when you had high blood glucose level on certain days.
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Your A1C is a good proxy for your insulin resistance. It also can be used to extrapolate an average glucose level.

6.0 correlates to an average of 126. 7.0 correlates to an average of 154. To get to 6 or 7, you have to be spiking above 140 a lot, which is as high as you ever want to see it. Except for a few hours after meals, a metabolically healthy person is under 100 all the time.

https://www.accu-chek.com/tools/a1c-calculator

Pablo said:
Yes of course.

6.0 and maybe overweight could give tendonitis, but does seem odd.

I always feel good even when over 7. I have an odd feeling that I have been this way for a LONG time. Will never know.
Click to expand...
According to the studies I've read, diabetes increases tendonitis rates by 3 to 4x. I also read that most people take a decade or more to get to the point where their pancreas can't keep up with their cells resistance, so I'm sure you are right. The other unfortunate thing is the longer you've had it, the harder it is to improve things with lifestyle changes.
 
Yesterday's results from yearly check up.
Screenshot_20251127_164839_Chrome.webp
 
Pablo said:
Ever seen the breakfast spread at Enzian? I did that a week standing. Bad boy!
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Yeah. We stayed there once on Christmas Eve when my kids were little. The desert table was sagging with goodies. We let our then 2 or 3 year old daughter pick a chocolate mousse filled pastry and regretted it because she was bouncing off the walls until way after midnight..
 
Something to remember about A1C: the thresholds for diabetes and pre-diabetes have been revised down several times over the last few decades. Sort of like BAC levels for DUI. They keep getting lower. While A1C is an excellent marker, it may not be a one-size-fits-all metric. It is, however, the best we currently have for measuring that particular aspect of metabolic health.
 
ripcord said:
Yeah. We stayed there once on Christmas Eve when my kids were little. The desert table was sagging with goodies. We let our then 2 or 3 year old daughter pick a chocolate mousse filled pastry and regretted it because she was bouncing off the walls until way after midnight..
Click to expand...
Did they have the whole giant breakfast spread for you? Everything , you name it!

1764349804473.webp



1764349822327.webp
 
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