Dr. Beato is doing his best to help me "beat the odds"

I have a very bad familial history for cardiovascular disease, both sides. Type 2 diabetes also is prevalent on my maternal side. I have always been "athletic", fit and trim, but so was my Father who had a massive heart attack at 77 and died 8 days later. Dad had undergone a cardiac catheterization procedure 6 months prior to his attack, and was judged to have seemingly "dodged the familial history bullet" for heart attacks/strokes that had taken all his parents, grandparents and great grandparents. When I signed on with MD/VIP, I told Dr. Beato of my family history, and that I wanted to take up run/paddle/bike triathlons in my retirement. We did numerous Dx studies for cardiac disorder genomes, general biochem panels and lipid panels, and cardiopulmonary capacity studies, and I was judged to be as healthy as any 40 year old (although I was 63). Dr. Beato let me borrow some books concerning updates on underlying cardiovascular disease causes since my Father passed, and he suggested doing high resolution carotid artery ultrasonography to evaluate my vascular wall health. In spite of my "blood work" saying I was a-OK, I had the vascular walls of an 85 year old man. Lots of "soft" vascular wall inflammatory infiltrates that despite my excellent blood work predisposed me to a "vascular wall blowout" with a potential heart attack or stroke. Dad had excellent bloodwork when he passed away, but that was 20 years ago, and Dx testing had gotten much more sophisticated, especially concerning vascular wall disease. So Dr. Beato started me on a "statin" drug to hopefully help reduce the "soft" vascular wall inflammatory infiltrates, and over the past 4 years, my vascular wall infiltrates have improved greatly. I now have vascular walls on carotid ultrasonography comparable to my actual age. Dad had a "sweet tooth", and to some extent, so do I. Due to the association of excess sugar consumption with vascular wall disease, I have cut out sodas and sugary snacks (but I still put a glop of honey on my oatmeal every morning ;-) I have been pretty successful in my new found sprint triathlon career (I like beating 30 and 40 year olds and hearing people say "look at that old guy go"), and I look forward to continuing my active lifestyle until I die. I believe that Dr. Beato's due diligence will be a major contribution to my living a longer, healthier life.