Question: I can't afford to pay. I just had X-ray incidental findings of calcified plaque in abdominal aorta on lumbar X-ray so trying to learn something, somewhere, what it means.

Thank you so much for your answer, Dr. XXXXXXX I do keep my heart health in check -- or try to -- given my family's long-engrained history, and, too, my own heart attack at 57 (in early 2012). Prior to that event, I had slightly elevated "bad" cholesterol and so much "good"cholesterol that my primary care physician advised me that didn't need medication at the time. Same as with my blood pressure. But just prior to the MI (95% blockage in the left anterior descending aorta), that's all changed, though I've been on and off blood pressure meds as --up until the last few months -- they dropped my pressures to "danger zones," too low even for someone with a heart history. My father lost most of his family (4 of six siblings and his father) all to heart disease, all young (prior the age 60); my mother's twin brother, sister and a second brother also suffered sudden cardiac / cerebrovascular disease (death), the three of them dying at or before age 63. Remarkably, both parents are still living, each having celebrated their 85th birthdays this past year. Three of my brothers treat for all or some of the following risk factors: diabetes, HT, obesity, high cholesterol. I'm the runt of the litter, the most active and health conscious and have the lousiest heart health. Go figure! But the rest of my body has taken quite a beating, having been on the wrong end of three auto accidents which have led to ongoing and even recent orthopedic surgeries to my wrist, forearm, cervical and lumbar spine, shoulder and collar bone. I am like a Tinker Toy woman with lots of titanium in me. I don't know which of those parts, along with the stent, will last longest, but I hope they all go at the same time, and many years down the road, so that I might get a chance to "enjoy" what they're designed to do. My father and I are most alike -- in anatomical features, I guess you could say. He underwent quadruple bypass in 2001, at which time they discovered a 6mm AAA, removed 6 months later without adverse effects and, then, 6 months after that, had an endarodectomy (sp?), whose symptoms were, in the first place, the reason he'd consulted a cardiologist. Since, he's had not an iota of heart problems. Your comment to "not worry" means a lot to me, as you can only imagine with all these cardiac "ghosts" in my family. I greatly appreciate your prompt reply.XXXX