February is American Heart Month and doctors are spreading the word about lowering the risk of heart disease.  Andy Kates, MD, cardiologist at the Washington University Heart Care Institute at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, specializes in prevention. He says awareness is important because heart disease is America''s leading cause of death.

"If you look at coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, more people die from those causes than all other causes combined," says Dr. Kates.

While family history is something people cannot change, there are several risk factors people can eliminate on their own: Lower your cholesterol, quit smoking and lose weight. Dr. Kates said keeping cholesterol levels low is essential, but the overall number to strive for varies for everyone.

"It would be great if everyone had an LDL of 100, but there''s a goal LDL based on what your risk is," says Kates. "If someone has two risk factors, then their goal LDL should be less than 100 while somebody who has no risk factors, their goal LDL may be 130."

It goes without saying cigarette smoking is an important step in lowering risk of heart disease. However, Dr. Kates has a novel approach for those who can''t quit cold turkey.

"I tell people who can''t quit to cut the number of cigarettes they smoke per day and determine which ones they really need," he says. "If they need one when they get up in the morning, one after dinner and one on their break at work, then smoke those. Start with those because the risk of heart disease is directly related to the number of cigarettes you smoke."

"The more you smoke the greater the risk," says Dr. Kates.

Also putting people at risk is the ever growing obesity epidemic. Dr. Kates says cutting calories is a must.

"Identify what you eat that''s unhealthy and try to cut it down," says Dr. Kates. "For example, if you drink sugared Coke, switch to diet Coke, that''s a ton of calories you can cut easily."

For more information on cutting heart disease risk or for a free heart disease awareness kit, call 314-TOP-DOCS or 866-867-3627.