At the end of each episode, I ask you to share your thoughts about the show, and send

me any questions you might have.

Well, here's a question we got from a listener named Max.

Hey, Boppy, this is Max.

So a few weeks ago, my father had a heart attack and triple bypass.

This was a big surprise, because he's never had any signs that his heart was headed

in this direction.

What gave it away was an angiogram that showed 90% plus blockage in three of his arteries.

My question is, why is the angiogram not considered a more routine procedure for heart health?

Is it as too expensive to make part of a normal physical?

Is it scarce resources?

And can I actually make it part of my routine physical so that I can monitor my heart in

a more detailed way?

Max's question is a good one, and it's relevant too.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

According to the CDC, it killed nearly 700,000 people in 2020, which is about one in five

deaths.

It's costly by some estimates over $200 billion a year.

Heart disease should be on all of our radars because there's a good chance that it'll affect

us or someone we love.

So how can we figure out if we have heart disease?

Do we all need an angiogram?

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