I quit smoking cigarettes in 1969, five years after the U.S. Surgeon General’s first report said that smoking causes lung cancer. I was convinced the report was right when it came out, but it took me five years to develop the willpower to give up my Marlboros.

In the case of LSU Health Shreveport, a new building is so much more than just increasing the size of the institution. It is a hard-earned sign of a brighter future – a future that affects almost every citizen in north Louisiana due to its irreplaceable role in health-care delivery, medical education and the economy.

With Father’s Day approaching, this provides an excellent opportunity to promote men’s health. Given that heart disease is the leading killer of Americans and that more than half a million men will have a heart attack each year, let’s spend a little time reminding that special man in your life several ways to improve his heart health.