"Your heart disease is 'genetic'"

--Phospholipase A2-One of an emerging panel of factors from the world of phospholipids. Higher levels have clearly been associated with higher risk for heart attack.

There are more, but you get the point. There are clear-cut genetically-transmitted reasons for greater risk for cardiovascular disease. Some, like lipoprotein(a), yield very high risk. Others, like increased triglycerides, yield mixed levels of risk.

Importantly, all of these patterns -- ALL -- are identifiable and treatable. Identification involves blood tests that are no more difficult than checking cholesterol or blood sugar, though some exotic measures may not be fully covered by health insurance. (Insurers often label them "experimental," even if they've been studied and found useful for 20 years.) Treatment may not always be easy, but they are treatable nonetheless. But it really helps for someone to understand how and why they got heart disease in the first place. There's nothing worse than being told someone has a disease and nobody knows why.

If you've been told that your risk for cardiovascular disease or coronary plaque is "genetic" and thereby uncorrectable and hopeless, that is unacceptable unless an exhaustive search is made to uncover hidden causes beyond the obvious. Get another opinion from someone willing to take the modest effort to tell you precisely why.