IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Mike Matarazzo was hospitalized for a couple of days after he suffered a heart attack on Monday, November 5, 2007. Mike was discharged after doctors inserted four stents into his blocked coronary arteries along with an internal defibrillator. He is currently recovering at his home with his family in Modesto, California.

This is the second time that Mike has been hospitalized as the result of serious heart problems. On December 8, 2004, surgeons performed triple bypass heart surgery on a 39-year old Mike Matarazzo after being admitted to the emergency room days earlier with presenting symptoms of shortness of breath and coughing up blood. The angiogram revealed three arteries were mostly or completed blocked. The diagnosis and surgery effectively ended Mike's career as a professional competitive bodybuilder.

Mike never regretted his lifestyle as a competitive bodybuilder and has always accepted full personal responsibility for the risks he assumed in pursuit of his bodybuilding goals. There were several factors that may have contributed to his heart problems. He had a history of adverse blood lipid levels and had been treated with the cholesterol-lowering medication Lipitor since 1997. Hs diet consisted of as much as 5 lbs of red meat per day during the his competitive career. And his HDL (high-density lipoprotein) levels were often undetectable. (Low HDL levels in bodybuilders is commonly the result of use of anabolic steroids. Matarazzo was always honest about the use of anabolic steroids and acknowledged there was always a risk when an artificial or exogenous drug was introduced into the body.)

Muscletime's Raymond Cassar tells us that Mike is perhaps the friendliest and most personable bodybuilder he has met in over two decades of covering the sport of bodybuilding. Raymond first met Mike shortly after he gained his pro card in 1991 and continued to follow his career over the next several years. Despite his success and increased fan popularity as a bodybuilder, Mike always remained the same humble, friendly and accessible person.

Everyone at Muscletime wishes Mike a speedy recover as he bravely faces his latest challenge.