Coronary Heart Disease Treatment
If you are known to have coronary heart disease, surgery and angioplasty, along with long-term medications, may be recommended as coronary heart disease treatments to reduce your risk of future heart problems.
It is important to remember that there is no cure for coronary heart disease. However, the coronary heart disease treatments outlined below, along with healthy lifestyle choices can greatly reduce your risk of further heart problems, and relieve or control symptoms such as angina.
Medications
There is now a wide range of very effective medicines to treat coronary heart disease and its risk factors such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol. Common medications (or classes of medications) include:
- Aspirin
- Anti-anginal medications (nitrates)
- ACE inhibitors
- Beta-blockers
- Statins (cholesterol-lowering)
- Clopidogrel
- Warfarin
Taking these medications as prescribed can greatly reduce your risk of further heart problems, and it is very important to remember that most will need to be taken long-term.
Angioplasty and stent implantation
Coronary angioplasty is a procedure that improves blood flow to the heart by using a special balloon to open a blocked artery from the inside at the point of narrowing. It can be used to treat angina or as an emergency procedure to try to restore blood flow to the heart after a heart attack.
After angioplasty is performed to open up a blocked coronary artery, a special expandable metal tube ('stent') is usually delivered to the site, expanded, and left in place to keep the artery open.
Bypass surgery
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery (often shortened to CABG and pronounced 'cabbage') is an operation in which blood flow is redirected around a narrowed area in one or more of the coronary arteries, allowing blood to flow more freely to the heart muscle.
Implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs)
After a heart attack, some people may develop, or be at high risk of developing, abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) which could be life-threatening. In some cases, a small device can be implanted in the chest and connected to the heart in order to treat such an arrhythmia if it occurs. This device is called an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD).
Resources
Aspirin - Information Sheet on its use in cardiovascular disease (2003) 
Download
Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators - Information Sheet (2004) Download