Many Americans were surprised that former President Clinton needed to undergo emergency heart surgery in September. After all, didn't he have the best medical care possible, including frequent testing and all the right drugs? Of course he did, but you cannot test yourself to safety. Nor will medications cure all your illnesses, especially if taken irregularly. You see, when arteries are injured by damaging risk factors like high blood pressure or cigarettes, cholesterol is deposited like new plaster repairing a wall. But if too much of the wrong cholesterol accumulates, the plaque grows and becomes inflamed. Blood can clot on this irritated surface and rapidly close off an artery in just minutes, even if the plaque was small initially.

A stress test can determine whether enough blood is passing by a blockage to feed an exercising heart on the day of the test. If the artery is 50% closed, the test will often be clean, giving false comfort to people who are still at risk for heart attacks. Many folks wrongly believe that these tests guarantee health. Like many Americans, the President tolerated atypical symptoms of life-threatening blockages before the correct diagnosis was finally made.

While the use of high-technology tools can be lifesaving, aggressive management of heart-disease risk factors is a more valuable investment of time than repeated tests. The former President had high cholesterol numbers, but once the levels dropped with appropriate drug management, these drugs did not seem so critical to him anymore. Controlling the risk factors for heart disease is a full-time job. It need not consume you, but creating a lifestyle of appropriate diet, exercise and emotion management is the real key to heart health.