If progress since then had come so cheap and easy -- a 23 percent improvement for an investment of three cents -- health care in the United States wouldn't be in the state it is.

But that's not how things happened.

Instead, the fight against heart disease has been slow and incremental. It's also ...

The goals of initial treatment are to minimize damage by restoring blood flow to the heart and to determine the amount of damage to heart tissue. It is critical to call for immediate medical attention (i.e., call 9-1-1) if heart attack is suspected. Intensive research over the last 20 or more years ...