Medicines for Coronary Artery Disease

Medicine is often the first step in treating heart disease. Medicine can relax the arteries that carry blood to the heart, lower the heart rate, and lower blood pressure. Other medicines can "thin" the blood and prevent blood clots. Common types of medicines used are nitroglycerin, beta-blockers, and calcium antagonists. Medicines are also used to treat an elevated blood cholesterol level and to control diabetes, if needed.

Thrombolytics are "clot-busting" medicines that are used to treat heart attacks. These drugs can quickly dissolve clots that clog arteries, open up the artery, and restore blood flow to the heart. When used soon enough, they can prevent or limit heart muscle damage and stop a heart attack in its tracks. However, clot-busting drugs must be given immediately after heart attack symptoms begin. To be most effective, they need to be given within 1 hour of the start of heart attack symptoms.

Aspirin helps to lower the risk of a heart attack for those who have already had one. It also helps to keep arteries open in those who have had a previous heart bypass or other artery-opening procedure such as coronary angioplasty. But aspirin can cause stomach bleeding and has other risks. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved aspirin to prevent heart attacks in healthy people. Talk to your health care provider about whether taking aspirin is right for you.