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President Trump has common form of heart disease - CNN - CNN.com
www.cnn.com/2018/01/17/health/trump-heart-disease-gupta/index.html
President Trump has common form of heart disease
Story highlights
- White House physician calls Trump's health "excellent"
- A medical test shows he has heart disease
(CNN)Like
most men of his age, President Donald Trump has a common form of heart
disease, relatively easy to address if he increases the dose of his
cholesterol-lowering medication and makes necessary lifestyle changes.
Without those changes, the President has a moderate risk of having a
heart attack in the next three to five years, according to the Mayo Clinic.
On
Tuesday, White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson disclosed Trump's
basic labs measurements, physical exam results and the conclusion of a
cognitive exam, known as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
Additionally, the President had an echocardiogram of his heart, as well
as a stress test, both described as normal. Although it was not part of
the official medical records that were released yesterday, after
further questioning, Jackson also revealed that Trump underwent a
coronary calcium CT scan as part of his routine physical exam.
His
score is 133, and anything over 100 indicates plaque is present and
that the patient has heart disease. According to Trump's official
medical records, in 2009 his coronary calcium score was 34. In 2013, it
was 98.
Most
people might have not heard of this test, also known simply as a heart
scan or calcium score. It is a CT scan, a specialized X-ray that takes
high quality pictures of the heart, looking for calcium-containing
plaque in the blood vessels that feed the heart, known as the
coronaries. With this information, doctors can then calculate the risk
of having a heart problem in the future. In the case of Trump, a new
score of 133 reveals there has been a steady build-up of plaque in his
blood vessels, indicating moderate heart disease. Also concerning are
Trump's total cholesterol levels and his LDL ("bad" cholesterol), as
both increased significantly over the last year, despite being on a
statin drug known as Crestor or Rosuvastatin.
Trump,
71, is not too different than most Americans his age. After the age of
40, most men in the United States have some evidence of heart disease,
and the President's score places him squarely in the mid-risk range for a
man of his age. Because the President doesn't smoke or drink and
"appears to have good genes," according to Jackson, he has been able to
avoid the classic symptoms of heart disease.
"His
score is 133 and he is 71 years of age, which puts him in the 46
percentile," said cardiologist Dr. Rachel Bond of Lenox Hill Hospital in
New York. "What does this indicate? Yes, he certainly has coronary
artery disease because calcium is present. But this is also common for
someone his gender, race and age.
"When I compare him to other males who are 71 and white, only 46% of others have a better score than him."
Bond added this is not something to be taken lightly.
A coronary calcium score below 100 reduces the risk of heart attack to moderate.
Jackson
has already increased the dosage of the Trump's cholesterol-lowering
medication and recommended a low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet, along
with an exercise regimen.
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