Coronary Artery Disease

You can slow or even prevent coronary artery disease by taking steps toward a healthier lifestyle. Many people already have. More people are adopting healthy habits such as eating right, exercising more, and not smoking. Doing these things can also help reduce risk factors such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. In one study by the American Heart Association, the number of deaths from heart disease dropped because so many people made these kinds of changes.³

Lifestyle changes

• Quit smoking. It may be the best thing you can do to prevent heart disease. Smokers who quit cut their risk of heart disease by half after 1 year. You can cut your risk even more by staying away from cigarettes for good. After 15 years of not smoking, your risk of death from heart disease is the same as if you had never smoked at all.³ And avoid secondhand smoke. For more information, see:

  Interactive Tool: How Does Smoking Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack?

  Interactive Tool: Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

• Exercise. There are lots of ways that exercise boosts your health. It can lower cholesterol and blood pressure. It can also help you reach a healthy weight. Try to exercise for at least 30 minutes on most, if not all, days of the week. Talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program. To learn more, see:

  Heart disease: Exercising for a healthy heart.

• Eat a heart-healthy diet. The way you eat can help you control your cholesterol and blood pressure. It can be hard to know what's best to eat for a healthy heart. See these guidelines for heart-healthy eating for general tips and special diets to help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Remember that some foods you may hear about are just fads that don't prevent heart disease at all. To help you start and stay with a healthy eating plan, see:

  Heart disease: Eating a heart-healthy diet.

These three big changes—quitting smoking, getting exercise, and eating right—will give you the best chance at preventing heart disease. But there are a few other things you can do to keep yourself healthy.

• Relax, and reduce stress. Stress can hurt your heart. Keep stress low by talking about your problems and feelings, rather than keeping your feelings hidden. Try exercise, deep breathing, meditation, or yoga.
• Manage depression and anger. Getting treatment for depression and learning how to manage anger can help you stay healthy.

Control your cholesterol and blood pressure

To reduce your risk of heart disease, it's important to control your cholesterol and manage your blood pressure. Quitting smoking, changing the way you eat, and getting more exercise can help. But if these things don't work, you may need to take medicines as well. For more information, see:

Should I take statins for high cholesterol?

Should I take medicine for high blood pressure?

Aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke

If you're already at risk for heart disease, taking daily aspirin may reduce your chances of having a stroke or a heart attack. That's because a daily aspirin lowers your risk of getting blood clots. Blood clots can lead to a heart attack in people with heart disease. Clots can also cause heart attacks in people who have other problems that can lead to heart disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Taking aspirin has some risks. Talk with your doctor before starting aspirin treatment. For more information, see:

Should I take daily aspirin to prevent heart attack or stroke?