Research has shown that despite having controlled cholesterol levels, a build-up of calcium in the coronary arteries might contribute to higher risks of having a heart attack.
A three-year follow-up on a study of people taking cholesterol-lowering statins, who had a heart attack, revealed that they had a significant amount of calcium in their coronary arteries than those who didn't have a heart attack.
From these results experts concluded that people who had excess calcium of the coronary artery didn't benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering statins and were in a higher risk bracket for developing cardiovascular related conditions. One expert claimed that while statins were effective at reducing the risk of heart attacks, the rate of reducing the risk of these events was 35 percent in the best-case scenario.
Study on Calcium Build-up and Statin Use
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Out of the 495 participants with nearly the same LDL levels and no symptoms, 41 experienced a heart attack in the follow-up portion of the study
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On the whole, the patients who had a heart attack were shown to have a significant build-up of coronary artery calcium than those who didn't have a heart attack
Experts theorized when excess calcium was present in individuals, there was a 17-fold greater chance that they would have a heart attack than in those with no evidence of calcium. Experts also concluded that the two most definitive indicators of heart attack were LDL levels and calcium build-up.
Yahoo News July 14, 2004