Its not Cholesterol! Calcium Deposits cause Heart Disease.

At the age of 75, I live with Type 2 diabetes that has been controlled first by diet and exercise, and later by drugs. My cholesterol levels have been monitored for over twenty-five years and certified to be well within safe limits, and I stopped smoking over twenty-five years ago.

I was taken by surprise last autumn, therefore, to find that my cardiac arteries were blocked and that I required emergency by-pass surgery. My arteries were blocked, not by cholesterol, but by concrete-like deposits of calcium phosphate. Prior to the operation, I viewed my angiogram as it was being taken by the surgeon, and was shocked to learn of the nature of the blockage. The surgery was long and complex and my life has been hanging on a knife-edge since. I decided to examine the phenomenon of cardiac calcification to question why it is that calcification has not been widely recognized by the public to be a major cause of death from heart disease, and to find out what if anything could be done about it.