After a surprise visit to  a local emergency room, I had the shocking realizaton that I was following the pattern of my unhealthy father who had his first heart attack at 50. Motivated to take charge immediately of my 300 plus cholesterol, and 500 + triglycerides, my anger at being unaware of my risk, I went immediately to a local lab and arranged to get checked every week for my most severe numbers.  The cost factor helped me to make short work of the task.  Within six weeks, I had dropped my total cholesterol over 100 points, and the killer LDL to 120. My plan...run instead of jog...absolute fidelity to Dr. Dean Ornish's program...and daily monitoring. I even followed Dr. Walford's plan for the 120 year diet. Within six months, I had no sign of poor blood numbers, and had my total cholesterol as low as 130. I have since continued monthly testing, and now realize I only have half the story. The most significant damage can only be detected  by a heart scan of the three main heart arteries. This is where the damage is most visible. It also is outside the insurance coverage, but is the most accurate evidence of heart disease...and for less than a couple hundred dollars.  The bi-product of all this is I know what works for my vital signs: understanding the risks, sticking to the sciences, and reading each daily medical development on the net, in books, and all medical media.