About 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that's 1 in every 4 deaths. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. More than half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2009 were in men.
Given the above, it's perfectly understandable that most doctors are concerned about their patients' heart health. This is particularly so once a person hits middle age.
The funny thing, is that stress is really the number one cause of death, or better yet, the number one proxy killer.
But, we only look at the observable cause of death.
"According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. And more than 75 percent of all physician office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints."
"A large number of scientific studies have proven that stress is the number one modern time killer. It is the major cause for the staggering increase in cancer, strokes and heart attacks in the past few decades."