Dr. Michael Mack, a heart surgeon, has been performing far fewer bypasses these days. A decade ago, 80 percent of his practice involved on bread-and-butter procedure: the coronary artery bypass. (Often triggered, it must be noted, by too much bread and butter). Now, bypasses make up just 20 percent

   It's not for lack of patients. Super-sized portions and expiring gym memberships keep heart specialists plenty busy, says Mack, a medical director of cardiovascular services for HCA Inc., a Nashville-based hospital chain.

   But Americans, he says, are starting to witness a sea change in heart treatment that may keep more of us out of bypass surgery in the decades ahead. Current alternatives, such as artery-opening stents, will soon be joined by other techniques - from picture-perfect imaging tests to genetically tailored drugs - that will help extend the expiration date on our tickers.

   One thing you can count on, Mack says: If your heart does require a surgeon's knife, the procedure will involve less cutting and be more closely matched to your organ's needs. "Treatment will become more patient-specific because it will be tailored to the patient's genetic makeup and what the physician can see on imaging tests," he says. "Therefore we'll know ahead of time which approach is more likely to be effective for each patient." Contact for complete article.