Heart disease is the number one killer in the US today. Who is at risk? Well, consider this: NBC television reported in Feb 10 1997, that the risk of cardiovascular disease starts early in life. In fact, research at Louisiana State University found that the risk of heart disease starts early -as early as 5 years old! What is the major cause of heart disease? High cholesterol? Well NOT NECESSARILY. If high cholesterol were the major cause of heart disease, the bear and other hibernating animals should have been extinct; their cholesterol, at least during the winter, is over 350! Research work by Dr Matthias Rath, a cardiovascular expert and an associate of Dr Linus Pauling, proved that the major cause of heart diseases [heart attack, strokes, and clogged arteries] is POOR NUTRITION! In this groundbreaking work, Dr Rath found that supplementation with a combination of some special vitamins; minerals, amino acids and antioxidants could prevent, reverse, and correct cardiovascular problems. Over many years of poor nutrition, lessions develop in the arteries. The body deposits lipoproteins at the damage sites to repair the damage. This constant "tear and repair" results in layers of cholesterol deposited in the arteries, eventually blocking them. And the consequencies as we know, is tragic.Dr Rath's research has been comfirmed by other researchers. Dr Passwater's research in the 70s found that the risk of strokes and heart attacks is not so much as the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream, as POOR NUTRITION. He also found that some vitamins actually raise good cholesterol levels.In addition, epidemiological research has proved that people with low blood selenium, are 2-3 times at risk of heart disease than those with adequate selenium levels. Selenium is very important, especially to men: about half of their body selenium is in their sperm store. Selenium lowers the risk of prostate, colon, rectal and lung cancer-Science News Jan 4 1997.Dr Rudolph Riermers of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Dr Fred Gey of the University of Berne in Switzerland, found that people with adequate levels of beta-carotene, vitamin C and particularly vitamin E are "less likely to experience clinical symptoms of heart disease." The arteries are prevented from undergoing "oxidative stress" with the help of these nutrients. These findings have been confirmed in Japan, Italy, and Finland etc.These researches confirmed Dr Rath's findings-that cardiovascular diseases are NOT NECESSARILY caused by blood cholesterol but by POOR NUTRITION.You would think that this good news would be shouted from every rooftop. Don't bet on it. Cholesterol lowering drugs are been aggressively marketed. But most cholesterol lowering drugs are carcinogenic! The FDA knew this a long time ago. Not only have that, cholesterol-lowering drugs depleted the body's CoenzymeQ10 supply. CoQ10 is an important heart nutrient. It's lowering can actually trigger more heart attacks. But there is good news in all of this- the fact that there are some things we can do to enhance our chances of beating the number one killer in America- with adequate information and involvement in our own well being. This article could be reprinted only on the condition that the author is given the proper credit, and resource info is included and click able Trained in technical and aviation fields, but committed to finding and reporting on, and disseminating life-enhancing information to the public