Being a Heart patient myself, I was lucky and got away with a ballon angioplasty. My Cardiologist gave me quite good instructions to follow for cardiac health. You don't have to be a heart patient to do these things either, and in fact may be quite benificial in keeping you from being one.
1. Get a regular check up by a physican, including checking blood presure, blood tests for colestorol, tri-glycerides and blood sugars. A lot of diabetics are found this way that didn't even know they were.
2. Exercise regularly, at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes, especially aerobic exercises. Running to the handle after starting your engine is not aerobic unfortunately.
3. Restrict you intake of both salt and fatty foods. Read the labels of foods you buy and determine the amount of fat grams per serving. If its over 7 consider it a code red item, something you would only eat very occasionally. ("Sob, goodby to daily Big Macs"). Salt should be limited to approximately 4 grams a day.
4. If your are overweight by more than 20 percent of ideal, by all means try to reduce to no more than 10 percent over ideal, and even less is better.
5. Take one asparin every day. Coated 81 MG is O.K. but supplement it with a full dose asparin at least every two weeks or so. This helps blood flow in ateries that may be constricted. It also acts as a mild blood thinning agent.
I am no physican, some of you out there may be. If I have accidentally eliminated anything please feel free to add it!
There are far too many of us aging, and following good cardiac helth practices should help ensure we are around to enjoy our hobby a little longer.