Tom,

>I have read that genetics is very important in your cholesterol level. Choose your parents well.
My father just had a quadruple bypass and has been in ICU for over 4 weeks. Is it too late to change?

>Could this be like so many things in life - including programming - there is more than one way to solve the problem?
I think, in this case, that we are at a watershed time in history for this stuff. Sure our diet has changed over the past century or so, but our activity level has changed much more drastically over the past 20 years. We're not sure of the solutions, so we're still taking stabs at what they ought to be. Which is why so many studies are being done right now.

>First understand the problem
I think that this is the problem right now. We don't understand the problem sufficiently. The good news is that almost no one dies from diarrhea any more - in this country. But 100 years ago it was one of the top 5 causes of death.