How Is Coronary Heart Disease Treated?
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Introduction
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Coronary heart disease occurs with the development of arteriosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis is a disorder that forms when fatty plaque builds up on the walls of the arteries throughout your body and heart. This buildup shrinks the size of the arteries making blood flow slower, or in some cases stop completely. According to the American Heart Association, in 2006 alone, at least 16,800,000 people were affected by coronary heart disease. When this diagnosis occurs, there are a variety of treatment options available, depending on how far the disease has progressed.
Medication
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One of the first options available for coronary heart disease is the use of prescription medications to treat the plaque buildup in the arteries and to lower the blood pressure. Common medications for the treatment of coronary heart disease include ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors, blood thinners, fibrates, statins and diuretics.
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Lifestyle
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Changes in lifestyle choices are the most common way that coronary heart disease is treated. These same changes can help prevent coronary heart disease from forming in the first place. For example, one way to treat the disease is a change of diet. This includes eliminating foods high in unhealthy fats (that promote plaque buildup) and replacing them with foods such as fruits, vegetables, foods high in fiber and healthy whole grains. Other lifestyle changes may include exercising more frequently, reducing stress, quitting smoking, and cutting back on the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Coronary Angioplasty
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When coronary heart disease has progressed to a point where medications and lifestyle changes are not enough to fix the problem, your doctor may consider a coronary angioplasty. A coronary angioplasty involves threading a catheter through an artery to the plaque blockage. Once in the blockage, a balloon on the end of the catheter is inflated to force open the artery. Once the artery has been opened, a stent is often placed into the artery to keep the artery from closing again.
Bypass Surgery
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In the most serious cases of coronary heart disease, your doctor may wish to perform bypass surgery. Bypass surgery is a procedure that surgically cuts out the blocked artery and replaces it with a vein from another part of your body. This surgery is particularly invasive, which means that it is usually only reserved for serious cases in which the benefits outweigh the risks of the surgery.
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