When is it too Late to Change your Lifestyle?

A friend of ours had a heart attack this past weekend. He's OK and even went home Tuesday. Still, his having a heart attack scared me. Not only am I scared for him, but it makes me wonder about both me and my husband.

This friend, who I'll call Michael, did not seem to be a typical candidate for a heart attack. He is in his mid-40s, a healthy weight, active in his job, physically fit, energetic ... So I have to wonder -- why him? What did he do -- or not do -- that caused this?

I know that at one point in his life he was heavy and he worked hard to lose the weight and be healthy. Did being heavy for several years do it? Did he have a history of eating poorly I don't know about?

Here is part of the reason this scares me. Though I have been thin for the majority of my life, I have not been healthy for much of it. For a good portion of it I was too thin but had no muscle tone and was not very active. I was physically unfit.

It's only been in the last 10 years that I have exercised regularly and attempted to eat well. Even then, I ended up being 20 lbs too heavy, it has taken longer than necessary to lose most of the weight and those last 5 lbs have been horrible. I keep gaining 3 lbs back and still have not yet reached my goal weight.

So, do the last 10 years of exercising and trying to eat well make up for nearly 30 years of bad food and a sedentary lifestyle? Is there some type of RotoRooter for arteries that I can use proactively to clear out any build up? (Or is it "retroactively" since it is after the fact?)

I am thrilled our friend is OK! Regardless, I'm nervous and I doubt if I will ever take minor chest pain lightly again.*
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*Let me just say that because of sporadic exercise over the years, I have had my share of inflamed rib cages or pericardium. Because I have had both more than once, I tend not to get overly excited when I have chest pain that feels like those conditions. In all instances, I have been to my family physician, been diagnosed and been given medications to reduce the inflammation.