People who adopt five simple lifestyle choices can reduce their risk of cardiac disease by an astounding degree. Furthermore, at least one of these lifestyle choices is counted by many as a forbidden pleasure, and large and powerful organizations exist to keep you from doing it. You need read about this. You can do it here.

Studied now confirm what many cardiologists have long suspected - patients admitted to the hospital with heart attacks during the month of December have a significantly higher chance of dying than during other months. There's a good reason for this, it turns out - and here's a case where patients really do have control over their own destiny. Read about it here.

We have talked a lot about treating coronary artery disease on this site over the years, and there are so many options for treatment that sometimes it's easy to overlook the big picture. So here's an article that summarizes the various approaches to treating coronary artery disease, and that provides numerous links if you are interested in more details.

After you've survived a heart attack, you've got a lot to learn about and a lot to think about. While in the good old days you might have had a week or two of hospitalization to go through all the testing, risk assessment, education, and initiation of therapy necessary to optimize your long-term prognosis, today whatever is going to get done must happen in the first three (or four, if you've got a liberal health plan) days.

Doctors and hospitals have mobilized nicely to provide adequate acute care for the patient showing up with an acute heart attack. But too often, many have dropped the ball when it comes to giving appropriate care after those first critical hours.

The key to successfully navigating your way to a long, healthy life after a heart attack is - YOU. You need to insist that the appropriate tests are done, the appropriate referrals are made, and the appropriate medications are begun. To this end, here is a convenient checklist of the things that should be done -- ideally before you even leave the hospital -- after your heart attack.