What are the treatments for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)?

Answer 1

Treatments for Coronary Artery Disease



Even though the treatments for heart disease have advanced a lot over the years, experts agree that lifestyle changes are the best way to fight coronary heart disease (CHD). When lifestyle modifications are not enough, other treatments such as medication and perhaps surgery may be needed.

Here are lifestyle changes specifically shown to help reduce your risk or improve the symptoms of heart disease:

Quit smoking.

Maintain a normal blood pressure.

Keep your cholesterol levels within normal range.

Exercise regularly. Check with your doctor to see which type of exercise is best for you.

Maintain as near normal body weight as possible.

If you have diabetes, keep blood sugar as tightly controlled as possible.

Reduce the amount of stress in your life.

Medications are often used to treat the symptoms of CHD. Commonly prescribed medications include:

Nitrates. Nitroglycerin is one type of nitrate medication that is often prescribed to treat CHD. Nitrates dilate the arteries that supply the heart with blood. In doing so, they increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart. Nitrates also reduce the workload of the heart by decreasing the amount of blood returning to the heart for pumping to the rest of the body.


Beta-blockers. Atenolol, carvedilol and metoprolol are three commonly prescribed beta-blocker medications. Beta-blockers slow the heart rate and decrease the force needed to contract the heart muscle. In doing so, beta-blockers reduce the workload of the heart.


Calcium channel blockers. Nifedipine, verapamil, amlodipine and diltiazem are examples of commonly prescribed calcium channel blockers. These medications open up the coronary arteries and may also decrease the heart's needs for blood and oxygen.


Aspirin. Aspirin can stop blood clots from forming within the coronary arteries. It reduces the risk of heart attack (myocardial infarction) in people who have CHD. Studies have shown that a daily baby aspirin is just as effective as an adult aspirin. Check with your doctor before taking aspirin.
Other medications that are often used to treat the risk factors that can cause or worsen CHD include:

Cholesterol-lowering medications. When diet and exercise fail to lower levels of cholesterol and other blood fats, medication may be needed. Some examples of cholesterol-lowering medications include lovastatin, colestipol, fluvastatin, pravastatin, fenofibrate, atorvastatin, cholestyramine, gemfibrozil, rosuvastatin and niacin.


Blood pressure-lowering medications. High blood pressure causes the heart to enlarge. Untreated, high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney and heart failure. Many types of medication are used to treat high blood pressure. Your doctor can determine which medications are best for you.
When lifestyle modifications and medications aren't enough to treat the symptoms of CHD or when your physician determines your risk of heart attack is too great because of severe blockages in the coronary arteries, surgical treatments may be advised. Surgical options include:

Coronary angioplasty. Often called balloon angioplasty or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), this procedure involves placing a catheter in the diseased coronary artery. Once the catheter is in place, a tiny balloon is repeatedly inflated and deflated to stretch or break open the blocked area. By opening the affected coronary arteries, blood and oxygen flow to the heart muscle can be improved. Stents are usually left in the artery to help maintain potency.


Coronary artery bypass surgery. Often referred to as CABG, this major operation involves opening the chest wall and inserting a graft (usually taken from a vein in the leg) into the coronary artery that is blocked. By placing a graft in the diseased artery, blood can then bypass the obstruction. If more than one coronary artery is blocked, multiple grafts can be inserted.
Angiogenic therapy

Researchers are using clinical trials to examine the effectiveness and safety of a new technique known as angiogenic therapy. The administration of angiogenic growth factors may emerge as a potential treatment for people with coronary artery disease (CAD) that cannot be helped by angioplasty or bypass surgery. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may be effective in growing new blood vessels (called neovascularization or neo-angiogenesis) in heart patients after either direct administration of the growth factor or gene therapy directly into the heart muscle or into a partially blocked coronary artery. The first clinical studies with these compounds in patients with CAD have shown promising results.

All treatments for CHD are aimed at relieving symptoms and reducing the risk of a heart attack. None of the treatments are a cure for heart disease. The best way to manage coronary heart disease is to change your lifestyle and take your medications exactly as your doctor has instructed.

Answer 2

There are 3 main treatments for CAD - medicines, interventional procedures like angioplasty and stenting that open blocked arteries, and bypass surgery.

Answer 3

on a monthly basis, eating atleast 1/2kg of garlic and 2kgs of onion well cooked with other food; including atleast 200 kgs of amla in the diet; and drinking aleast 4 litres of water daily and walking for a hour in the day should ward of coronary artery disease.

Answer 4

No bypass, no angioplast, no stent and no chelation. An young ayurvedic doctor from Pune has developed Rudved ayurvedic capsule for CAD. Since 2002, he has cured more than 6000 patients from CAD.

Answer 5

There is a website called WebMD and is great for helping out with these types of questions. It gives you all of the lastest updates in the medical world. Go give it a look and see what you learn from it.

Answer 6

Good genes, stop eating, no stress, stop smoking, be lucky.
Do all of the above and you might still have the disease, last option see a specialist.