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Calcification
This in regards to my husband’s recent test . He has done is tests , CT CORONARY CALCIUM SCORING test and 2D ECHO test results. And his calcification score is high, ( 546)while he has no symptoms, the tests were done precautionary as he has a family history.
He does not have diabetes, BP, cholesterol issues and does his lab work regularly. He eats healthy , maintains a fitness routine, however has a family history of Cardiovascular problems and heart attacks, that got him curious to check it
He did the angiogram anyways, this week. That was ok n doctor said v little blocks nothing to worry (30%)
I wanted your support on what he can do differently to manage this condition of calcification and secondly what is the root cause of this condition. Let me know if there are any particular videos I should watch on the BBetter platform. -
8 Replies
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Hi – I love that your husband is taking preventative action!
The topic of cardiovascular health is a BIG topic with many many root causes, so let me start off with an explanation about calcification specifically, and then I’ll share additional videos you can watch in the B Better library about calcium balance.
Preventing Arterial Plaque
In the body, many vitamins serve as cofactors for enzymes and therefore play major roles in speeding up or increasing key biochemical processes. Vitamin K is one of those important cofactors. It’s found in:
• grass-fed butter
• cheeses
• fatty red meats (e.g. ribeye steak)
• liver
• egg yolks
• natto (fermented soy that has a strong odor and flavor)…many of the foods that people tend to avoid due to nutritional myths!
Bacteria in the human gut can produce Vitamin K forms, but this appears to be not in sufficient quantity to prevent calcification in a Vitamin K-deficient diet. While it appears that animals can easily convert Vitamin K1 into Vitamin K2, this has not been well demonstrated in humans (one of few human studies). And our modern epidemics of osteoporosis and heart disease may be evidence of this combined K1-to-K2 impairment and our overall poor intake of foods high in Vitamin K1. Unlike other fat-soluble vitamins, the body does not store Vitamin K, so it must be taken in regularly.
Vitamin K is also responsible for “carboxylating” (a simple biochemical adjustment) which activates a class of proteins in the body called Gla proteins. These proteins play a variety of functions such as blood clotting and managing calcium in the body.While vitamin K1 is preferentially used by the liver which is where clotting proteins are made, the rest of the body prefers the K2 form to keep bones, arteries, kidneys, brain, etc. healthy. Insufficient Vitamin K2 can dramatically increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, specifically via calcification of arteries, especially the aorta.
In blood vessels, Vitamin K2 is necessary to carboxylate MGP, a protein which strongly inhibits vascular calcification. But only Vitamin K2, not Vitamin K1!
And Vitamin D also plays a synergistic role in this activation. In the famous Rotterdam study, sufficient Vitamin K2 intake was shown to prevent both cardiovascular disease and aortic calcification more than 50% of the time! And sudden death from heart attack is even much more highly correlated with calcification of the aorta than with cholesterol.
Hopefully in time, conventional labwork will measure uncarboxylated MGP, given that it has already – repeatedly – been shown to be highly correlated with the level of arterial calcification and Vitamin K nutritional status.
I typically recommend to my clients a combination of MK-7 and MK-4 forms of Vitamin K2 in supplement (e.g. Pure Encapsulations’ Synergy K or Jarrow’s K Right which also have vitamin D). If you want to dive deeper, this article by Chris Masterjohn is very well done. Vitamin K2 is powerful! But of course many other key factors must be considered in cardiovascular concerns as well.
In the Mineral Balance course, I have a section on calcium balance where I discuss these cofactors since an imbalance can cause soft tissue calcification. I recommend you watch the entire section to have a better understanding of all the hormonal players & cofactors involved in regulating calcium to make sure it gets into the bones instead of soft tissues like the heart.Start here with Risk Factors for Calcium Imbalance. Then watch the other 3 videos in that section as well. It will provide additional markers to consider testing as well like 25(OH) Vit D, and 1,25(OH) Vit D, HsCRP (for inflammation), thyroid, parathyroid, RBC magnesium, etc.
And keep in mind that at the end of the day, cardiovascular health involves the heart, vessels, and blood. The heart is rich in mitochondria so mitochondrial health is important (watch this video). The integrity of blood vessels can be damaged from oxidative damage (high blood sugar, inflammation, toxins/heavy metals) so reducing these and antioxidants are important, and blood is about 92% water so hydration is foundational. As you can see, supporting the basic foundations of health will positively impact cardiovascular health (in a nut shell!).
Hope this is helpful.
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Thank you B , this is super helpful ,,, I’ll check on the videos again while keeping in mind the above
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Hey ,
In addition to Bernadette’s excellent answer, I would like to add here that it would be interesting to see his labs as well.
In functional medicine, we look differently at labs. For example, he isn’t diagnosed with diabetes, but his labs could still show us signs of insulin resistance, which can definitely cause damage to arteries causing calcification.
In fact, if he could do only one lab, I would be curious about his fasting insulin levels.
His cholesterol/triglyceride levels are also interesting to see for ourselves. If you like to share them, perhaps we could give you even more individual advise!
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Hello Daniel
Thank you for the support
Attached below are the levels,
Blood sugar – fasting – 91
Total cholesterol – 142
HDL – 90
LDL – 78.2
VLDL – 11.3
Triglycerides- 59
Cholesterol / HDL ratio- 2.73
LDL cholesterol , HDL cholesterol- ratio – 1.5
Viramin D – 25
Vitamin B12- 309.7
Calcification marker – 583I do not have the HBA1C marker levels ( will get those done )
Looking forward to your feedback
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I’m glad Daniel asked you for those lab markers, because he’s right, so much is missed from the conventional lens.
Just from these markers you’ve shared, I too suspect an issue with blood sugar given that his fasting glucose is 91 mg/dl. Anything above 90 is usually indicative of some form of insulin resistance.
Checking fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and HbA1C again would be a good idea.
I would also argue that his cholesterol and triglycerides are a little suppressed. Has he ever had a thyroid panel done? Does he have a liver panel we can look at as well (please include reference ranges)? How is his stress level? Would you say he has adrenal hyperfunction based on symptoms? You can watch this video here to learn about the symptoms.
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Dear B and Daniel,
In regards to calcification for my husband, i have attched the further tests as suggested on our earlier coments. Let me know, what are a few things we could do to understand the root cause of calcification and manage it better in the long run .
also as asked by @bernadette about , stress level , I would say he is a banker and does have levels of stress , however he has practices of meditation etc that helps him manage stress better.
looking forward to your reply,, thank you. [sunil reports may 2023 .pdf][sunil reports 23.pdf] -
Looking forward to your feedback on the reports and additional information attached . -
sorry about that – your previous question was somehow missed. Thanks for pinging us again.
Insulin resistance is definitely at play: Fasting glucose of 94, fasting insulin of 13, and HbA1C at the upper end of the clinical reference range. Just a reference, optimal fasting insulin should be between 5 to 7.
Please watch this video which explains the optimal reference ranges as a comparison to your husband’s levels. This is definitely a contributing factor for calcification since higher insulin can cause damage to vessels and soft tissues and promote calcification. Blood sugar regulation should be prioritized. It could also explain his high uric acid, an antioxidant that increases in the presence of higher oxidative stress (which happens when blood sugar levels are high).
His labs also show low vitamin D. As mentioned above, in blood vessels, Vitamin K2 is necessary to carboxylate MGP, a protein which strongly inhibits vascular calcification. Vitamin D plays a synergistic role in this activation too! Here’s a handout which explains how to increase vitamin D levels. If he chooses to supplement, make sure he’s taking magnesium glycinate and a vitamin D3/K2 combo to ensure calcium shuttles into bone and not soft tissue.
Have you gone through the Blood Sugar Balance course yet? I share solutions and strategies for the different stages of insulin resistance. He should watch it to understand these dynamics too, so he’s motivated to make changes.
A few other markers jumped out but can you please confirm if he was sick when these tests were taken? His white blood cells are showing a pattern of possible viral infection, which would skew other markers like globulin. It’s clinically low and could indicate immune insufficiency. We know vitamin D is insufficient. I would also check vitamin A, zinc and copper levels.
His liver markers are also suboptimally high. Again, this could happen when there’s a virus like EBV or CMV for example. Does this make sense in his case?
Finally, I’m still suspecting issues with thyroid function given his suppressed TSH, cholesterol and triglycerides. If chronic stress is part of his picture, this would also need to be reduced, not just managed as it can be playing a role in his higher insulin levels, especially if his diet is low in sugar/carbs.
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