What the doctor said that convinced me to take it seriously: you can recover really well from a heart attack and carry on with your life. If a stroke doesn't kill you, the resulting brain damage will leave you with life-altering conditions, such paralysis of half your body, loss of speech (aphasia), trouble swallowing, memory issues, double vision... it's quite a list. Losing my independence would be unbearable, so I take my meds and keep my cankles covered. :-)