My dad is a 57 year old male. We have no insurance. He has always been healthy and been on no medications. He has had a bout of kidney stones in 1999 and had similar problems a couple of days ago. He went to the doctor and everything went fine with that, but the Dr. wanted to order some lab work because he has never had any done. He had a EKG that was normal other than bradycardia (slow heartbeat). His chest x-ray however came back abnormal. We are going for a follow up in a couple of weeks, but I am worried about the chest x-ray findings. It said that he had ASVD and borderline cardiomegaly with aortic calcification. I also should note that his Cholesterol was 159 normal. HDL and LDL was normal, but on the bad end of normal. The lipid panel showed a high risk factor of heart attack and stroke. Please help me understand and what can be done. Like I said we don't have insurance and live on a limited income. I would appreciate any help !!
2006-10-27 12:15:46 · 11 answers · asked by countrygirl 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
well i donno about xrays, but i can help with the lab results.
risk factor is calculated like the : total cholesterol / HDL (good) cholesterol. so if his total cholesterol is slightly elevated and HDL a little bit low, well he gets a high risk factor.
well, wish you luck.
2006-10-27 12:22:39 · answer #1 · answered by valy_4 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Cardiomegaly means the heart is enlarged.
Aortic calcification is a normal finding with advancing age.
If his LDL is high, then his lipid panel would give him a higher risk factor for heart attacks and strokes - he would need to watch his fat intake (less saturated fats, more polyunsaturated fats) and do more exercise.
I'm not sure what you mean by ASVD - atherosclerotic vascular disease is not readily seen on x-ray and needs arteriography (dye studies) to see it. - atrioventricular septal defects are something found in infants.
The bradycardia may well be a good thing - has been a fit and active person all his life? Bradycardia is commonly found in athletes (who have large stroke volumes and so do not need a rapid heart rate to keep up the supply of blood), with certain medicines (beta-blockers particularly), and in end stage very sick hearts which is not what he has.
Your father does not need a cardiac cath (or angiogram) unless an exercise stress test indicates he has heart disease (or unless he has a clear cut angina attack in the meanwhile). Do the follow up with the doctor.
Meanwhile, he needs to exercise and make his diet a little leaner.
2006-10-27 12:22:09 · answer #2 · answered by Orinoco 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Though these findings are not normal, they're really not that uncommon. You've described the chest xray of many, many people your dad's age. Sounds like he has signs that warrant getting a stress test. Any regular doctor can arrange this.
Financially try applying for medicaid or look in the blue pages of the phone book for county medical assistance programs.
2006-10-27 12:19:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I tend to agree with "jmensch". Don't be worried about the chest X-ray or labs. His diet and lifestyle are things that can be changed and that will benefit his overall quality of health. Applying for Public Assistance, Medicaid and Medicare are all options you should look into for him.
ASVD is arteriosclerotic vascular disease a not unexpected finding considering the rest of his workup.
2006-10-27 14:49:26 · answer #4 · answered by TweetyBird 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When you post the results of your lab work or Xrays you compromise your medical privacy. You open to many interpretations and unfortunately some of them can be wrong. Giving you unnecessary worries about your medical health. If your medical Insurance pay for a Cat Scan then go ahead and take the test. The test about 15 minutes. The sit down with your Doctor and discuss all your results. If you feel he is not telling you the truth,then you have the right to go to another Doctor and take all your reports and results of all of your test. They can't refuse them to you.
2016-03-19 00:42:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
what it sounds like is there is a calcim build up in your fatheres arteries, which is causing blood not to get through as normal, so, the options, if this is the case, they my reccomend doing a cardiac catheritization, which is where the put a tube through a vein in the thigh and look at the arteries going into the heart, and the also look inside the heart as well, and if possible, they my try to do a ballon opening of any clogged arteris or put a stent in depending on how bad the arteries are clogged.
2006-10-27 12:20:33 · answer #6 · answered by dahorndogd013 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Your dad could take a daily dose of aspirin, a lot of people take aspirin on a daily basis because they live in fear of heart attacks and apirin i suppose to thin out the blood and help it somehow, mabye because it prevents clotting.
2006-10-27 12:31:43 · answer #7 · answered by jennyve25 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You need to ask your father if you can go with him to his next appointment so that the two of you can ask his doctor these very questions. Only his doctors will know......no one here can help you with this. I'm sorry.
2006-10-27 12:19:44 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
basically he needs to get his cholesterol down ....he has hardening of the arteries and a low heart beat......what was his blood pressure?.......if he watches his diet and takes medicine that was prescribed..he lowers his risk quite a bit......there are programs available for ppl with limited income to get medicine...call the maker of drugs that were prescribed lots of drug companies help with low cost or free prescriptions...
2006-10-27 12:24:44 · answer #9 · answered by kndykisz 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Please talk with his doctor, don't trust advice here on something this important. His doctor will doubtlessly recommend a low fat diet, exercise, and possible medications to lower his risk.
2006-10-27 16:17:07 · answer #10 · answered by ckm1956 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋