Same story here (though it cost me more - insurance refused to cover it because I did not meet the criteria [0]) LDL while clearly not telling the whole story

Same story here (though it cost me more - insurance refused to cover it because I did not meet the criteria [0]) LDL while clearly not telling the whole story is a great first line defense at population levels because it's easy and cheap (similar to BMI). If you just throw Statins at everybody with high LDL you're going to improve health outcomes, and historically providers and researchers have considered statins to be effectively "free" (both in actual cost and in side effects). In developed countries where the equipment for this test is readily available, individual patients should absolutely request it even if paying out of pocket, if for nothing more than their own peace of mind. I'm a layman but I have come to conclude that the AHA's guidelines on when to recommend the CAC test are too conservative. Definitive knowledge of the underlying pathology (or lack thereof) seems like it would be useful both for people with exceptionally high and exceptionally low scores. Even if in a vast majority of cases the treatment plan would be similar (just give them statins) more knowledge seems better on an individual treatment level. [0] https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-attack/diagnosing-a-heart-attack/cac-test https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-attack/diagnosi...