Being smarter about preventing heart disease

Some theme issues are planned by us. Others assemble themselves. This is one that has come together naturally, which presumably means that there is widespread interest in assessing risk of heart disease and responding as intelligently as possible. And so there should be. Heart disease is the commonest cause of death in most developed countries and is increasing in poor countries. Yet with the wisdom of hindsight much of our response looks unintelligent: treating people, regardless of their absolute risk, when they cross a particular magic line …