Q: cardiac calcium scoring

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Is anyone familiar with and if so, can you comment on the usefulness of "Cardiac Calcium Scoring" ?It consists of a CT scan of the coronary arteries and results are reported as a score based on the amount of calcium seen in the arteries. This information is then related to realtive risk of MI and supposedly allows MDs to decide how aggressive they need/want to be with drug therapies. He has had other cardiac testing and we know that his coronary circulation is not optimal (echo showed mild stenosis in some of his coronary arteries, none worse than 50%). He has done well getting his cholesterol down to 200 (HDL=60, LDL=125) with naturopathic therapies, and he's not interested in a statin though his cardiologist thinks it's indicated because his LDL is over 100 and he smokes (he had

quit, but started up again). He is having trouble getting back to his good habits after being convicted of a white collar crime and waiting to be sentenced. The stress is incredible and we have had the long hard discussion of lifestyle issues, stress management and their importance to his long term health etc...Will this test give us any useful information beyond what we already know?Thanks again for any help- N.D.N.field, RI401*597*0477