Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Each year it claims more lives than the next seven leading causes combined. Heart disease can take many forms and it varies widely in severity. Some people are born with it, but most often heart disease develops later in life.

Perhaps the most sinister aspect of this silent killer is that it usually develops gradually and may go virtually unnoticed. The groundwork for heart disease can begin in early childhood, with the only manifestation a fatal heart attack decades later.