The Ultimate Heartbreaker

No, I’m not talking about an ex-girlfriend.  

Heart disease is the leading killer of Americans and the ultimate heartbreaker.  If you combine all the deaths caused by the number 4 through 10 leading causes of death in this country, the total is still less than heart disease alone.  In your quest to improve your life odds, anything you can do to lower your risk for heart disease is worth your while, since it’s by far the most likely reason you’ll die.

Heart attacks (the fancy doctor term is myocardial infarction) are responsible for many of the deaths in this general category of heart disease.  A heart attack is usually caused when one of the coronary arteries becomes blocked, which interrupts the supply of blood flow carrying necessary oxygen and nutrients to your heart’s muscle.  What happens is cholesterol-filled narrowed areas called “plaques” form within the inside linings of your arteries in a process called atherosclerosis.  These (more…)