Continuing the prologue from the previous part. The body, figures, and citations follow the manuscript as written.
[ References and Photo Sources ] 1. Radiopaedia, Coronary Artery Calcification 2. MESA Study, Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis 2. Cerebrovascular Calcification: Erased Memory and Disaster Without Warning
Cerebrovascular disease, the fourth leading cause of death, likewise has its essence in the calcification of the blood vessels.
When we examine the CT image of the carotid artery in the neck, the most important passage leading to the brain, we can often see reefs as bright as bone lodged in the inner wall of the vessel. This mass of calcification not only narrows the passage and obstructs blood flow, but its rough surface also becomes a fatal foothold on which blood clots readily form.
[Photo caption: Carotid artery CT image. A mass of calcification as bright as bone is lodged like a reef in the inner wall of the vessel. When a blood clot forms on this rough surface and breaks away, it becomes a fatal embolus that blocks the cerebral blood vessels.]
According to a study published in Stroke, the journal of the American Stroke Association (ASA), the calcification score of the carotid artery is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of ischemic stroke. In particular, when the calcified atherosclerotic plaque takes on an unstable form, the risk of stroke rises more than 3 to 4-fold.
Here we must point to an essential fact. The mass of calcification deposited in the carotid artery does not stop at merely narrowing the vessel. The surface of the calcified atherosclerotic plaque is rough and unstable, and at some moment its fragments break away. These fragments ride the bloodstream upward and block the cerebral blood vessels. The brain cells have their oxygen supply cut off, and within minutes necrosis begins.
But when this patient dies, what is written on the death certificate? "Cerebral infarction" or "ischemic stroke." The fact that carotid calcification was the cause is not recorded. A calcium fragment broke away and blocked the cerebral vessel, and so the brain died, yet the name of the true killer is nowhere on the death certificate. The statistical office classifies this death as 'cerebrovascular disease,' and calcification is once again hidden.
[ References and Photo Sources ]
1. Radiopaedia, Carotid Artery Stenosis and Calcification
2. Stroke Journal, Carotid Artery Calcification and Ischemic Stroke Risk
3. Breast Microcalcification: The White Footprints Left by Cancer
Even cancer, the leading cause of death, reveals its true nature through the trace of calcification.
In a mammogram image, there are cases where white dots are observed among the soft breast tissue, as if sesame seeds had been scattered or grains of salt had gathered together. These are the calcium residue left behind in the process of cancer cells proliferating and dying, that is, microcalcification.
[Photo caption: Mammogram image. White dots scattered like sesame grains among the soft breast tissue form a cluster. This microcalcification is a footprint left by cancer cells and is the most important early diagnostic indicator of breast cancer.]
According to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) of the American College of Radiology (ACR), 85 to 95% of breast cancers are first discovered through such microcalcification. In particular, when irregularly shaped and sharp calcium particles form a cluster in one place, the probability of being determined malignant on biopsy exceeds 80%.
As mentioned earlier, the proportion in which calcium signal disturbance is involved in the occurrence, progression, and metastasis of cancer reaches 20 to 30% even by a conservative estimate. Cancer cells transform the expression and activity of calcium pumps, channels, and exchangers to acquire the ability of infinite proliferation and evasion of apoptosis. Calcification is a result of cancer, but at the same time it is also evidence of the calcium metabolism abnormality that promotes cancer.
[ References and Photo Sources ] 1. Radiopaedia, Breast Microcalcifications & DCIS
2. American College of Radiology (ACR), BI-RADS Atlas for Mammography
4. Dementia and Basal Ganglia Calcification: The Stone in the Brain That Imprisons Memory
Behind Alzheimer's disease and dementia, the sixth leading cause of death, lies hidden the process in which the command tower of the brain turns to stone.
When we look at both sides of the dead center of a brain CT image, white masses shining intensely like butterfly wings are often captured. This is precisely 'basal ganglia calcification.' It is the appearance of the core region responsible for cognition and movement having physically hardened.
[Photo caption: Brain CT image. The white masses shining symmetrically like butterfly wings on both sides of the central brain are basal ganglia calcification. It is the sight of the command tower of cognition and movement turning to stone.]
According to studies published in the Journal of Neurology, patients in whom basal ganglia calcification is distinctly observed have significantly lower cognitive function test (MMSE) scores, and the probability of progressing to vascular dementia is dramatically higher. Memory disappears in proportion to the weight of the calcification, so to speak.
When this patient dies after cognitive function declines over several years, what is written on the death certificate? "Alzheimer's disease" or "dementia." The core region of the brain hardened with calcification and neural transmission was blocked, and so cognitive function was lost, yet the physical cause of calcification is not recorded. The statistical office classifies this death as 'nervous system disease,' and calcification is once again hidden.
[ References and Photo Sources ] 1. Radiopaedia, Basal Ganglia Calcification
2. Journal of Neurology, Cognitive Decline and Intracranial Calcification Patterns
5. Diabetes and Pancreatic Calcification: The Collapsed Insulin Factory
Diabetes, the seventh leading cause of death, is not simply a matter of blood sugar levels. It is the tragedy in which the very organ that must secrete insulin becomes calcified.
When we look at a pancreas CT image, we can see countless white dots scattered like salt powder along the elongated pancreas. It is the scene of pancreatic calcification, where the beta cells that make insulin are trapped between hard stones and are being compressed and destroyed.
[Photo caption: Pancreas CT image. White calcium deposits like salt powder are scattered across the entire pancreas. It is the sight of the beta cells that secrete insulin being trapped between stones and destroyed.]
According to the journal Gastroenterology, about 50 to 70% of patients with chronic pancreatitis accompanied by pancreatic calcification eventually lose their insulin secretion capacity and transition to diabetes. Before diabetes is a hormonal imbalance, it is the physical outcome of the factory itself being buried in stone powder and coming to a halt.
When this patient dies of diabetic complications, the death certificate records "diabetes" or "diabetic kidney failure." The pancreas hardened with calcification and insulin production stopped, and because of that blood sugar control became impossible, and in the end death came from complications, yet the fundamental cause of calcification is recorded nowhere.
[ References and Photo Sources ] 1. Radiopaedia, Pancreatic Calcifications
2. Gastroenterology Journal, Insulin Deficiency in Chronic Calcific Pancreatitis
6. Insomnia and Pineal Gland Calcification: The Brain Robbed of the Sovereignty of Sleep
Insomnia is a great concern for modern people. And behind this suffering there is a 'small stone' in the middle of the brain that blocks the hormone of sleep.
When we look at the deepest place of a brain CT image, a white dot shining like a jewel or a shard of glass is found. This is the calcified pineal gland. The place where melatonin, the hormone of sleep, must be secreted has been covered with calcification and blocked.
[Photo caption: Brain CT image. The white dot shining like a jewel in the deepest place of the brain is the calcified pineal gland. It is the sight of the gateway of melatonin secretion blocked by calcification.]
According to a study reported in Neuroscience Letters, the wider the calcification area of the pineal gland and the higher its density, the more sharply the body's nighttime melatonin secretion decreases. The true nature of the suffering of tossing and turning every night may not be psychological anxiety but a physical defect in which the brain's clock has turned to stone and cannot send its signal.
Insomnia itself is not recorded as a direct cause of death. But chronic insomnia leads to lowered immunity, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and declining cognitive function, and in the end it promotes the occurrence and worsening of other diseases. The chain reaction that pineal gland calcification set off contributes to death under a different name, without being recorded in any item on the death certificate.
[ References and Photo Sources ] 1. Radiopaedia, Pineal Parenchymal Calcification
2. Neuroscience Letters, Pineal Gland Calcification and Melatonin Secretion Levels
7. Joint and Cartilage Calcification: The Thorn That Stops Movement
Let us examine the other side of the arthritis that drives our daily lives into suffering.
When we look at a knee X-ray image, white lines or crystals are observed at the position of the smooth cartilage plate between bone and bone. This is precisely the calcification lodged within the cartilage. In particular, thin linear calcification is also lodged within the tendons, playing the role of a thorn that pierces the surrounding tissue with every movement.
[Photo caption: Knee X-ray image. White linear calcium deposits are observed at the cartilage position between bone and bone. This calcium crystal lodged within the cartilage plays the role of a thorn that pierces the surrounding tissue with every movement. A decrease in bone density appears overall, and effusion has pooled above the kneecap.]
According to a study in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, such cartilage calcification (chondrocalcinosis) accelerates the speed of cartilage destruction more than 2-fold compared with ordinary degenerative arthritis.
What we must pay attention to here is the 'paradox of calcium.' Calcium leaks out of the bones and osteoporosis arises, and that very calcium clings to the cartilage and blood vessels and hardens the joints. It leaks out from where it should be and piles up where it should not be. This is clear evidence that our body is being calcified throughout the whole system.
When an arthritis patient becomes bedridden because they cannot move and dies of pneumonia or thromboembolism, the death certificate records "pneumonia" or "pulmonary embolism." The calcification that hardened the joints, the pain that made movement impossible, and the chain of causation that led to the bedridden state are not visible in the statistics.
[ References and Photo Sources ] 1. Radiopaedia, Chondrocalcinosis
2. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, Relationship Between Bone Mineral Density and Joint Calcification
8. Calcification Within the Gum Tissue: The Giant Reef Hidden Inside the Gums
The true nature of the thing we commonly call 'tartar' and regarded lightly is in fact a giant calcium reef lodged deep within the gums. The appearance revealed through X-ray is not a mere foreign body but the scene of calcification that wraps the tooth root as if in a cast and destroys the tissue.
[Photo caption: Dental CT image of a tooth. A giant mass of calcification shining white is visible on the side of the tooth root. This calcification, which was invisible from the surface of the gums, has grown as if to swallow the entire root, and 'calcium thorns' that have sprouted like sharp icicles are pressing on the soft gum tissue from within.]
This is a dental CT cross-section image. A triangular white 'calcium thorn' of high radiodensity is visible in the gum area adjacent to the tooth root, which suggests the possibility of bone-fragment calcification (penetration of bone fragments) that arose as inflammation and microdamage overlapped in a state where the alveolar bone had weakened, and such a thorn continually irritates the gums and drives the inflammation into a vicious cycle, hastening the collapse of the alveolar bone and in the end increasing the risk of tooth loosening and loss.
This giant lump of stone is not simply attached. It forces its way into the narrow gap between the gum flesh and the tooth, prying it open, and presses the tissue with no room to breathe. Every time we chew food, this sharp calcium reef pierces the gum flesh and makes tiny wounds. The trillions of bacteria hidden in that groove spew out toxins. The swelling and bleeding of the gums is our body's desperate struggle and scream to push out this giant lump of stone.
[Photo caption: X-ray image showing the progression stages of periodontitis. The alveolar bone (gum bone) around the calcium deposit area has melted away and is emptied out black. It is the sight of the bone that supported the tooth disappearing and the tooth beginning to loosen.]
When this giant calcification settles within the gums, our body's immune system, in order to avoid this 'invader,' retreats while dissolving the gum bone (alveolar bone) itself. In the end the bone that supported the tooth disappears, and the once vigorous tooth falls out in vain. This is precisely a miniature of the whole-body calcification unfolding within the oral cavity.
But the effect this process has on the whole body does not stop at the mouth. According to a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, giant calcification within the oral cavity raises the body's inflammation markers and accelerates the risk of whole-body calcification such as cardiovascular disease. The chronic inflammation that began in the gums rides the bloodstream and spreads throughout the whole body, promoting the calcification of the inner walls of the blood vessels.
When an elderly person who has lost all their teeth to periodontitis cannot chew food properly and falls into malnutrition, and dies of pneumonia as their immunity declines, what is written on the death certificate? "Pneumonia" or "aspiration pneumonia." The calcification in the gums caused the teeth to fall out, the loss of chewing function brought about malnutrition, and the bacteria in the oral cavity were aspirated into the lungs and caused pneumonia, yet in this chain of causation calcification is recorded nowhere.
There is also a more direct route. The bacteria dwelling within the gum calcification and their toxins ride the bloodstream and move to the heart, causing endocarditis or accelerating the inflammation and calcification of the coronary arteries.
When this patient dies of myocardial infarction, the death certificate records "acute myocardial infarction." The calcification and chronic inflammation that began in the gums were the hidden accomplices that stopped the heart, yet their name appears nowhere.
[ References and Photo Sources]
1. Radiopaedia, Subgingival Calculus (Photo 8: radiological evidence of the sharp calcium thorn within the gums)2. ResearchGate, Panoramic x-ray with advanced periodontal loss, Fig 3 (Photo 9: the scene of severe gum bone loss and destruction caused by a giant calcium reef)
3. Journal of Periodontology, The Role of Calculus in the Pathogenesis of Periodontal Disease (paper: analysis of the mechanism by which the physical and biological structure of calculus destroys gum tissue)
4. Journal of Clinical Periodontology, Periodontal Disease and Systemic Inflammation (paper: the correlation of oral calcification with systemic inflammation levels and cardiovascular calcification)
5. Clinical Oral Investigations, Histological Analysis of Calculus Attachment to Root Surfaces (paper: a study of the histological microstructure of calculus fixed to the tooth root surface and the difficulty of its removal)
What the Records of Calcification Tell Us
Until now we have witnessed, following the ranking table of causes of death, the scenes of calcification unfolding here and there throughout our body.
It was calcification that stopped the heart. Although the death certificate wrote "acute myocardial infarction."
It was calcification that killed the brain. Although the death certificate recorded "cerebral infarction," it was calcification that erased memory too. Although the death certificate classified it as "Alzheimer's disease."
It was calcification that stopped the insulin factory. Although the death certificate tallied it as "diabetes."
In this way, the true nature of the diseases we have faced is not mere statistical figures. Heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia, and diabetes, positioned in the upper ranks of causes of death, ultimately arise from a single essence: 'calcification,' in which once soft tissue has hardened like stone.
When the white masses of calcification proliferating in unseen places suffocate the blood vessels and organs, our signal of life comes to a stop.
Now we must not be deceived by the names of diseases. What the death certificate records is only the phenomenon of the final moment, not the true cause that has eroded your body over several decades.
To break the chain of calcification and restore the flexibility of the body, that alone is the only key to protecting your life from the true killer that the statistics have hidden.
A More Serious Problem: A World That Made Calcium the Devil
Here there is something we must be sure to point out before moving on. If calcification is truly the leading cause of death, what must we do to prevent calcification?
We must know why calcification arises. But right now the world is going in the exact opposite direction.
Try searching for 'calcium' on YouTube. Shocking videos pour out. "Calcium supplements harden the blood vessels!" "Calcium brings on heart attacks!" "Calcium = the cause of calcification!" From broadcast news to famous doctors and pharmacist YouTubers, they warn in one voice.
What they cite is the claim that "calcium supplements raise cardiovascular risk and increase mortality." As such videos are repeated, the formula "calcium supplements = calcification = death" has been engraved in the public mind.
As a result, what is happening? People whose calcium intake is insufficient or who are at risk of osteoporosis avoid taking calcium. Calcium becomes deficient. Then how does the body respond? It draws calcium out of the bones and sends it into the blood. And that calcium piles up in the blood vessels.
Ironically, in trying to avoid calcium, they are instead promoting calcification.