Excellent and practical advice! I try and follow the basics that you have outlined. Question: my CT scan showed blockage went from 24 to 48 in five years. While the absolute number is low, the growth seems significant. As you point out, the test does not identify soft plaque. Is there any evidence that a small amount of statin (I take 5 mg pravastatin, with Zetia) helps reduce the risk of soft plaque breaking off? Or, does it have to be a minimum of 10 mg?
I am also evaluating whether to take the Galleri blood test. Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Also, what trade-off do you see between MRI and PET scan?
Hi Nikhil; thanks as always for your information and insight
I have way too many friends and acquaintances for whom some weird symptom pops up some random morning, who either waited a few days for it to disappear, or who saw a doctor right away, who then found they had Stage 4 cancer of some kind or another. I had already consulted my PCP and have done all the tests for the more frequent cancers for men, but the key word there is "frequent". With all that in mind I signed up (excuse me; that's taking too much credit; my wife signed me up) for the Human Longevity exhaustive examination which includes a full-body MRI and a genome analysis. It was the MRI that I really wanted and it was negative. I share all this because for me the feeling of gratitude and optimism I now have is real and durable, and of course if things had gone the other way, and cancer or other ailments had been found, well, early detection is the best possible thing you can do for yourself. I'm aware of the false positive issue but elected to deal with that if it came up, and to go ahead.
The whole exam, which included body mass characterization, lipids, and all the other diagnostics you have discussed, was expensive, but well worth it for me.
Bruce thanks for sharing this. You have a lovely wife that keeps you on top of things. Equally importantly the sense of gratitude is very characteristic of you. Glad you are getting all your tests done and that it’s been all negative so far.
fun TV shows sounds good, those are extremely rare... - what do/did you watch?
Excellent and practical advice! I try and follow the basics that you have outlined. Question: my CT scan showed blockage went from 24 to 48 in five years. While the absolute number is low, the growth seems significant. As you point out, the test does not identify soft plaque. Is there any evidence that a small amount of statin (I take 5 mg pravastatin, with Zetia) helps reduce the risk of soft plaque breaking off? Or, does it have to be a minimum of 10 mg?
I am also evaluating whether to take the Galleri blood test. Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Also, what trade-off do you see between MRI and PET scan?
Thank you for the feedback.
Your current statin/Zetia regimen of 5 mg provides reasonable benefits, but increasing pravastatin to 10 mg will offer better plaque stabilization.
MRI is better for structural imaging while PET scans are better for metabolic activity (e.g., cancer detection, heart inflammation).
Hi Nikhil; thanks as always for your information and insight
I have way too many friends and acquaintances for whom some weird symptom pops up some random morning, who either waited a few days for it to disappear, or who saw a doctor right away, who then found they had Stage 4 cancer of some kind or another. I had already consulted my PCP and have done all the tests for the more frequent cancers for men, but the key word there is "frequent". With all that in mind I signed up (excuse me; that's taking too much credit; my wife signed me up) for the Human Longevity exhaustive examination which includes a full-body MRI and a genome analysis. It was the MRI that I really wanted and it was negative. I share all this because for me the feeling of gratitude and optimism I now have is real and durable, and of course if things had gone the other way, and cancer or other ailments had been found, well, early detection is the best possible thing you can do for yourself. I'm aware of the false positive issue but elected to deal with that if it came up, and to go ahead.
The whole exam, which included body mass characterization, lipids, and all the other diagnostics you have discussed, was expensive, but well worth it for me.
Bruce thanks for sharing this. You have a lovely wife that keeps you on top of things. Equally importantly the sense of gratitude is very characteristic of you. Glad you are getting all your tests done and that it’s been all negative so far.