The next time you gather the family around for that holiday dinner, you might want to ask some medical questions after all the eating is done. Why? Well, new research out of Scotland says that paying attention to the heart risk factors of close relatives could prevent 40 percent of early deaths due to heart disease.

It seems to me that most disease happens due to a combination of genetics and environment along with about a zillion variables in each category.

But, knowing the possible predisposition to family histories with an above-average amount of disease along any line may make you pick certain lifestyle choices, right? It would me. When the human genome is fully understood (we're not even close), things will be a bit easier in terms of specific predictions. Until then, you may have to ask those hard questions.