Treatment Overview

Treatment for coronary artery disease focuses on taking steps to manage symptoms and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. For example:

• If your doctor agrees, take a low-dose aspirin each day to reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke.
• If you can't control your high blood pressure and high cholesterol with healthier habits, you may need to take medicines. They can help you manage these health problems and lower your risk.
• Your doctor may also suggest medicines if you often have chest pain that makes it hard to do everyday activities.
• If medicines don't help your chest pain, your doctor may suggest procedures to improve blood flow to the heart. Angioplasty with or without stent placement is one way to open clogged coronary arteries. Or sometimes coronary artery bypass graft surgery may be needed.
• No matter what kind of treatment you get, healthy habits such as quitting smoking, eating a heart-healthy diet, and getting regular exercise are important. You can start today:

  Interactive Tool: Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

  Heart Disease: Eating a Heart-Healthy Diet

  Heart Disease: Exercising for a Healthy Heart

What to Think About

Keep these questions in mind as you think about your treatment options:

• Will this treatment improve my symptoms?
• Will this treatment help prevent future heart problems?
• Am I likely to live longer with this treatment?
• What are the risks of this treatment?

Initial treatment

Lifestyle changes are the first step for anyone with coronary artery disease. But sometimes lifestyle changes are not enough. You may also need medicines. If you take medicines, take them on a schedule and take the correct dose. Taking medicines properly can help you prevent a heart attack or stroke.

Lifestyle changes

When you're first diagnosed with heart disease, your doctor will strongly advise you to make lifestyle changes. These include quitting smoking, eating a heart-healthy diet, and getting regular exercise. These healthy habits can slow or even stop the disease and improve the quality and length of your life.

Quit smoking. It's the best thing you can do to reduce your risk of future problems. And avoid secondhand smoke. If you smoke, you are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from heart disease.¹

If you smoke, try to quit. Medicines and counseling can help you quit for good.

Eat a heart-healthy diet. This can help you keep your disease from getting worse. A chart that compares heart-healthy diets(What is a PDF document?) can help you see what foods are suggested in each plan. A heart-healthy diet means: