How to treat coronary artery disease
To effectively treat coronary heart disease, you must first reduce or monitor your risk factors to reduce the chance of having a heart attack or stroke. The treatment method you receive also depends on your health condition, total wellbeing, and risk factors. For instance, your healthcare provider may prescribe drug therapy to treat high blood pressure or high cholesterol. You may also receive drugs to help regulate your blood sugar level if you have diabetes. The most common and effective treatment method for coronary heart disease is medications.
Your doctor may also recommend certain lifestyle changes to reduce your risk of developing stroke and heart disease. You may have to:
- Exercise regularly
- Eat a healthy diet (low in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar)
- Reduce or stop your consumption of alcohol
- Lose weight to a healthy level
- Quit smoking tobacco
If your coronary heart disease doesn’t improve after using some drugs or doing away with some habits, your doctor may recommend a procedure to boost blood flow to your heart. Some of these procedures include:
- Balloon angioplasty: This is done to widen blocked arteries and reduce the accumulation of plaque. It is usually done with insertion of a stent to ensure the lumen is open after the procedure.
- Coronary artery bypass graft surgery: This helps improve blood flow to the heart in open chest surgery
- Enhanced external counterpulsation: This is done to enhance the stimulation of new small blood vessels to naturally bypass clogged arteries in a noninvasive procedure.