A heart attack is a potentially disasterous situation in a person’s life, irrevocably changing his or her life forever. Indeed a heart attack can take your life. This year 4 to 5 million people will be evaluated in US Emergency Rooms for chest pain. Of these 2 million will be diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (chest pain arising from active coronary disease). 1.5 million will experience an acute heart attack. Of the 1.5 million patients suffering an acute heart attack, one-half million will die with 50% of these deaths occurring within the the first hour. Including those who die before reaching the hospital, the first prolonged attack of pain has a 34% fatality rate and in 17% of patients it is the first, last and only symptom. Against these staggering odds, is there any way we can prevent this disasterous outcome? Identifying those factors in our life that directly increase the risk of a heart attack is the first step in avoiding this potential 911 call.