An elevated coronary calcium score is known to raise heart disease risk but it also may indicate an increased probability of developing cancer and other deadly diseases as well, a new study shows.

Coronary artery calcium is a well-known predictor of coronary heart disease, in which a buildup of plaque narrows the coronary arteries, setting the stage for heart attack and stroke.  The risk of these diseases is low when the calcium score is zero, and that risk balloons nearly fivefold when the score is above 400.

A 10-year follow-up study of more than 6,000 people who underwent heart CT scans suggests that a high coronary artery calcium score puts people at greater risk not only for heart and vascular disease but also for cancer, chronic kidney disease and the lung disease known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), this new study finds.

The research team, led by Johns Hopkins University Medical School scientists, used data from six centers to evaluate 6,814 participants who were free of cardiovascular disease at the time the study began.

After 10 years, 1,238 of the original 6,814 participants had been diagnosed with a noncardiovascular disease.  These included several different types of cancers, well as kidney disease and COPD.

The study found that 36.9 percent of the people with the highest coronary calcium scores (over 400) were the most likely to be diagnosed with one of these noncardiovascular diseases, compared to 11 percent of participants with no coronary artery calcium.

Of the 710 new cancer diagnoses, over two-thirds (68 percent) occurred in participants with detectable calcium in their coronary arteries. According to the investigators, those with the highest calcium scores had a 53 percent increased risk of developing cancer during the follow-up period.

The study also found that the people with the highest calcium scores were 70 percent more likely to develop kidney disease, and 2.7 times more likely to have COPD than those with no detectable calcium in their coronary arteries.

The findings were not surprising because chronic bodily inflammation has been found not only to contribute to the buildup of calcium within the coronary arteries, but there is also growing evidence that it fuels the development of cancer, kidney, lung disease and other serious ailments as well, the researchers said.

The study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging.