Living With Coronary Artery Disease: Your Heart-Healthy Guide
Medical-Surgical · Cardiovascular
Coronary artery disease means fatty buildup narrows the blood vessels that feed your heart. Healthy daily habits and your medicines slow this buildup and protect your heart.
Stop smoking
- Stop smoking and vaping. Stay away from other people's smoke.
- Ask your care team about medicines and programs that help you quit.
Know your numbers
- Blood pressure goal: below 130/80 mm Hg, or ____________.
- LDL (bad cholesterol) goal: ____________.
- If you have diabetes, your A1C goal: ____________.
Eat for your heart
- Fill your plate with vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, and fish.
- Cook with olive oil instead of butter. Limit fatty red meat and full-fat cheese.
- Keep sodium below 2,300 mg a day, or ____________ mg.
Move every day
- Aim for 150 minutes a week, such as a 30-minute brisk walk 5 days a week.
- Ask your provider before you start a new exercise plan.
- Work toward a healthy weight. Get a flu shot every year.
Take your medicines
- Take your statin (cholesterol pill) every day, even when you feel well.
- Keep taking it when your cholesterol improves.
- Take aspirin only if your provider tells you to.
Call your provider today if you have
- Muscle pain, soreness, or weakness you cannot explain
- Dark, tea-colored urine
- Blood pressure or blood sugar often above your goal
Call 911 or your local emergency number if you have
- Chest pain, pressure, or squeezing that lasts more than a few minutes or comes back
- Pain in your arm, back, neck, or jaw, with sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath
- New chest pain, chest pain at rest, or pain that feels different from usual
- Fainting
- Do not drive yourself to the hospital.