Answer this one: Why is lack of regular exercise a major risk factor for heart disease?

The fact is, you might not care as much about looks as your wife does, but that fat around your abdomen is no laughing matter. A man's potbelly often warns of later problems ranging from heart disease to cancer, diabetes, arthritis, back pain and sleep apnea.

Atherosclerosis can be devastating, causing strokes, heart attacks and death. The good news is that you can take steps to protect yourself from this disease.

Heart disease is a killer, but you can do plenty to reduce your risk and prolong your life. Research shows that making lifestyle changes can decrease your risk of cardiovascular heart disease and help you control it if you already have it.

Millions of people diagnosed with heart disease enjoy active, satisfying lives. Instead of looking on their diagnoses as sentences to be invalids, they have used them as catalysts to make positive changes in their lives.

Strokes occur when something interferes with the normal flow of blood to the central nervous system. Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer.

The most common form of heart disease is atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Cholesterol joins with calcium and scar tissue and builds up in the arteries. When cholesterol levels are too high, the circulatory system becomes choked—and the result is a dam of plaque that narrows the channels the blood flows through.

Stroke may cause physical and mental difficulties. But the good news is that you can recoup some or all of your previous abilities.

Ignoring your symptoms can end up costing more in the long run because many conditions are more quickly and easily treated if diagnosed in their early stages.

Although aspirin is a common over-the-counter medication, it’s not appropriate for everyone.

In many cases, the progression to high blood pressure occurs within four years of being diagnosed with prehypertension.