Why heart disease is No. 1 killer

Despite all of the advances in medical care, we all still are aware that heart-related diseases remain our No. 1 killer.

Half a million Americans die from heart-related ills each year. Why? Many of the reasons are just "the way we live."

The biggest risk factors are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high glucose levels, unhealthy eating, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking and being overweight.

We could control some of those factors if we really decided to. It would require effort and determination.

But as a population, we haven't made much progress over the last decade or so.

Could we choose more wisely what we eat, avoid smoking tobacco, and get enough of the right kinds of exercise?

Sure, we could. But many just don't want to bother.

Our lives are precious to us -- and to our loved ones! We know the things we should do, and the things we should avoid.

If we just avoided the "wrong" things and did the "right" things, we'd live a lot longer -- and more comfortably.

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