There are many ways to combat heart disease and reduce its risk, including medication, lifestyle changes, and surgery.

The heart disease treatments vary depending on the condition and severity. For example, coronary artery disease can be treated through lifestyle changes or medication, while severe heart rhythm problems may require implantable devices such as pacemakers.

Your doctor will design a treatment plan that best suits your needs. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully and comprehensively.

Generally speaking, the treatment of heart disease includes:

Lifestyle changes are usually the first step in controlling heart disease. Lifestyle changes include eating a low sodium and low-fat diet that is beneficial for heart health, exercising regularly, quitting smoking, and limiting alcohol consumption.

If lifestyle changes are not enough, your doctor may prescribe some medication to treat heart disease. The type of prescription medication depends on the condition and severity.

The drugs commonly used to treat heart disease include:

Anticoagulants or blood thinners can reduce the blood's clotting ability and are used to treat certain vascular, cardiac, and heart rhythm problems. These drugs help prevent harmful blood clots from forming in the blood vessels or heart, and may prevent blood clots from getting larger, leading to more serious problems.

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors dilate blood vessels by lowering the levels of hormones that regulate blood pressure, reducing resistance, and making blood flow more easily in the body.

The effect of receptor blockers is to slow down heart rate and reduce the impact of adrenaline on the heart. This helps to lower blood pressure, thereby reducing the workload of the heart.

Calcium channel blockers block the movement of calcium into blood vessels and heart cells. This medicine can relax blood vessels and lower heart rate.

Digitalis can help the heart contract more forcefully when pump function weakens.

Diuretics, also known as water pills, help reduce the burden on the heart by excreting excess fluid and sodium through urination. These pills also reduce fluid accumulation in the lungs and other parts of the body, such as the ankles and legs.

Cholesterol lowering drugs, such as statins, can lower the levels of low-density lipoprotein ("bad" cholesterol) in the blood. (1, 2)

If lifestyle changes and medication treatment are insufficient, surgery may be necessary. The type of heart disease you suffer from and the degree of damage to the heart will determine which surgery your doctor will recommend.

The medical procedures for treating heart disease include:

Angioplasty is a process that involves a special tube connected to a deflated balloon and passing through the coronary artery. Balloons expand to expand blood flow to the blocked area where the heart slows down or is cut off.

The stent placement includes a metal mesh tube called a stent, which is used to support the open artery during angioplasty and permanently remains in the artery.

Bypass surgery treats arterial obstruction by removing arteries or veins from other parts of the body and using them to change the blood flow around the blocked arteries to improve blood flow to the heart.

When drugs are ineffective, radiofrequency ablation is used to treat various heart rhythm problems. It includes a catheter with an electrode at the tip, which is guided to the myocardium through a vein. The catheter is placed at the exact location in the heart where electrical signals stimulate abnormal heart rhythms, and gentle radiofrequency energy is transmitted to the pathway, destroying selected cells in a small area.

Heart transplantation is a surgery performed in very serious situations when the heart is irreversibly damaged. This process involves removing the diseased heart from the organ donor and replacing it with a healthy heart.