As a practicing preventive cardiologist, I began studying nutrition and weight loss in the early 1990s as a way to help my patients avoid heart attacks and strokes. My patients weren't doing well on the traditional low-fat American Heart Association diet, and I was determined to help them to not only lose weight, but also to improve their blood chemistries and other risk factors for heart disease — and, thus, their long-term heart health. As many of you know, this led to the development of the South Beach Diet®, but I've always considered myself an "accidental" diet doctor because I've continued to specialize in preventive cardiology and focus my attention on the lifestyle and medical measures that can literally put an end to heart attacks and strokes.

This is important work, since heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death among Americans — both men and women — claiming the lives of over a million people each year, according to the American Heart Association. Overall, about 62 million Americans have some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes heart attack, stroke, and other diseases of the heart and blood vessels. And as obesity and diabetes — both major risk factors — continue to rise, we'll see heart disease unnecessarily claim thousands more lives.

The good news is that due to recent advances in understanding, detecting, and treating heart disease, I believe we have reached a point where the great majority of heart attacks and strokes can be prevented. I developed The South Beach Heart Revolution over time, based on the scientific findings of hundreds of researchers (myself included) and on cutting-edge medical advances, to give you the information you need to take advantage of aggressive prevention strategies.

This is a four-step approach to prevent heart disease, which includes eating the South Beach Diet® way, exercising, partnering with your doctor for advanced diagnostic testing for early detection of heart disease, and taking the right medications if necessary. These four measures will help you reduce your risk of heart disease by controlling many of the conditions that contribute to it, including high blood pressure, high levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, high triglycerides (fats that circulate in the blood), and inflammation. Inflammation is a revved-up response of the body's natural infection-fighting mechanism that is now considered a key factor in atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which underlies heart attacks. By following the steps outlined in the book, you'll be making the most critical changes possible in order to live a longer, healthier life.

Finally, I hope that this book will give you the knowledge you can use to take an active role in your health care. As I discuss in the book, the present structure of the health-care system does not have a strong orientation toward prevention. It is my great hope that together, doctors, hospital administrators, lawmakers, and academics can work to reform the health-care system and arrive at one that focuses on prevention, offers affordable care and access to the latest technology, and allows for a satisfying doctor-patient relationship.

Sincerely,

Dr. Arthur Agatston