Most of you know that breast cancer, without preventive self-maintenance can be a silent killer of women. Did you know the same is true of heart disease and osteoporosis? Men, on the other hand, are wary of heart disease but few know they, too, can die from osteoporosis and breast cancer. Additionally, as men live longer, they can almost certainly expect to get prostate cancer. In future weeks you will learn more about each of these diseases here via some stories of how some acquaintances of mine got a smart start toward better health. They're a little longer than the usual message so it's added as an attachment you can download and read later, if you choose.

Meanwhile, know this.

Some 7 million Americans suffer from coronary heart disease (CHD), the most common form of heart disease. CHD IS THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN IN THE U.S.

Like any muscle, your pumping heart needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients. It gets them via flexible pipes known as the coronary arteries. Like pipes that can get rusty and clogged, your arteries can get clogged with a waxy substance, known as plaque. When the arteries become so narrowed or clogged that insufficient oxygen-rich blood cannot reach the heart, it responds with pain, called angina. That pain is usually felt in the chest or sometimes in the left arm and shoulder. However, the same inadequate blood supply can produce no symptoms, a condition called silent angina.

When the blood supply is cut off completely, the result is a heart attack. The part of the heart that does not receive oxygen begins to die, and some of the heart muscle may be permanently damaged.

Contributing factors to clogged arteries include a high fat, especially animal-based saturated fat and/or high cholesterol diet. If you're stressed, especially if you don't exercise regularly, the chemicals released during stressful events can precipitate production of artery clogging plaque. Risk is increased as you age and suffer the effects of poor habits when you were young, if you smoke, are overweight or don't exercise regularly. If you have a genetic history--a parent, sibling, aunt or uncle who died of heart disease or stroke that's a significant risk factor that makes it even more important to manage controllable risk factors.

More than 7 million Americans suffer from coronary heart disease (CHD). It's the number one killer of both men and women in the U.S. More men than women die of heart disease at younger ages but after menopause women, especially if they gain weight in their mid-section, catch up and surpass the death rates for men.

So, this week, before you judge a friend or co-worker about one of their behaviors, look at yourself. What are you doing for your health and your heart?