When we first applied for life insurance, my marathon running husband was shocked to find out that his premium would be twice as high as mine. The reason, according to our agent, was his strong family history of early heart disease. Though we knew that genetics play a role, we thought that a healthy lifestyle would balance things out. Not so, at least in the eyes of life insurance companies.A healthy lifestyle does have a significant impact on your heart health, but if you've been wondering just how much of a role family history plays in your personal risk of cardiovascular disease, check out this article from WebMD. It covers the basics of family history and may help initiate a conversation about prevention with your doctor.
1. The fact of the matter is that insurance companies and the medical community have no clue as to exactly what causes heart disease, so they blame genetics. What they can't explain they blow smoke at us. One study says "A", and the next says "B". Regardlesss, as the old expression goes - Eat Healthy, Exercise Regularly, and Die Anyway.
Posted at 3:52PM on Jul 24th 2007 by gst