An Ounce of Prevention  by Amit Khera, MD, MSc  Heart Talks
Heart Disease is Preventable  Although Benjamin Franklin was
referring to fire safety in his famous saying “an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure,” these words certainly
apply for heart disease. When I was a resident in Internal
Medicine, I distinctly remember taking care of a 45-year-old man
who was admitted to the hospital for his 7th heart procedure to
fix blocked arteries. I couldn’t help but wonder how he
developed such malignant coronary artery disease and thought
that there must be a better way to keep him from having these
recurrent problems.  Over a decade later, our Preventive
Cardiology Program at UT Southwestern continues to focus on
these two issues: Why do some people develop heart disease and
not others, and what are the best ways to prevent heart disease
and its complications? For the latter, it is quite clear that
heart disease is indeed preventable. Studies over the last
decade have shown that for those who can achieve he