On clear winter mornings, Steve Kaplan hikes up a nearby ski hill in California at Lake Tahoe, before the resort opens to ski back down as the sun crests the Sierra Nevada mountains. Kaplan, 68, is active, eats well, practices yoga and has never been a smoker.

And yet, he has advanced heart disease. A few years ago, Kaplan’s doctor discovered that plaque was blocking blood flow through several major arteries in his heart, including the one nicknamed the “widowmaker” due to its frequent involvement in fatal heart attacks. Heart disease runs in his family, but Kaplan was still caught off guard.

“I was literally shocked, despite my family history, that I could have so much plaque,” he said.

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