EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. (WTEN) — A New York woman is crediting a quick, simple medical test with finding a potentially deadly cardiac concern, despite her having an otherwise healthy lifestyle.
“I was somebody who had no symptoms, no shortness of breath, no chest pain, nothing,” Mickey Jenkins, of East Greenbush, explained to Nexstar’s WTEN. “I usually walk about 20,000 steps a day.”
But, after a close friend suffered a heart attack, Mickey said she asked her doctor for a calcium score test to take a closer look at her own cardiac health.
As part of a calcium score test, you undergo a CT scan, the Cleveland Clinic explains.
“You lay in the machine. It goes in the first time they say, ‘Take a deep breath,’ it comes out. You go a second time, take a deep breath, you’re done. It took me longer to walk down the hallway than it did to get in the machine to get the test,” explained Jenkins.
The results of the test are fast. Your doctor will review the scans to determine how much calcium is present in your coronary arteries. The level of calcium can be indicative of whether you have a buildup of plaque, which can block or narrow your arteries.
Narrow or blocked arteries can be a sign of disease, which could result in a heart attack, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Mickey’s test, while quick, caught an immediate danger, St. Peter’s Health Partners Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Sulaiman Hasan explained.
“That blockage in here, if you only have that, we still call that a Widowmaker,” Hasan said. Widowmaker heart attacks can occur if there is a blockage in your heart’s largest artery.
“I was a ticking time bomb,” Jenkins said, reflecting on the test’s findings. “They told me I couldn’t even leave the hospital. That’s how bad it was. So, they did the surgery, and five days later, I was released.”
Word of mouth spread about Mickey’s test results, prompting several East Greenbush Volunteer Firefighters to get one. Some were already aware of the importance of the test.
“I’m like, I’m in good shape. And, you know, not that old,” David Cook, who already underwent a calcium score test, explained. “And then when I decided to get it, it came 48. It wasn’t totally shocking, but I was surprised because I do work out a lot.”
Calcium scores go up to 400, and anything above that is considered a very high risk of heart disease.
Some scores are in the thousands, like Linda Mulheren’s. “2400 it’s a little over, I see my cardiologist on Monday,” she said.
Volunteer firefighter Rick Williams, who, like Mickey, also feels people need to know about the life-saving test, said, “$90 out of your pocket and not covered by insurance, which was a big thing. They stressed to you when you went, which I mean, $90 to save someone’s life.”
Hasan said anyone between the ages of 40 to 75 can ask for the test. He noted that there are multiple risk factors that can contribute to whether you should get a calcium score test, like “family history of premature coronary disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, [and] smoking.”
It’s best to speak with your doctor before seeking a test.