Various medications can also be used to reduce the risk of heart attack or coronary heart disease. Among these are beta-blockers, which reduce the workload on the heart by decreasing heart rate and blood pressure, aspirin and other anti-coagulants, which reduce the tendency for the blood to clot, nitroglycerin and calcium channel blockers, which can increase the blood flow to the heart by helping blood vessels relax and expand, and antihypertensives, used to lower blood pressure.

Surgery is an option for those victims of coronary heart disease who cannot be helped via lifestyle changes or medication. There are several types of heart surgery, including coronary angioplasty and coronary artery bypass. Coronary angioplasty involves inserting a catheter into a leg artery and threading it up into the partially blocked coronary artery. Then, a balloon at the tip of the catheter is inflated, which compresses the plaque against the wall of the artery and allows more blood to flow through. Coronary artery by-pass, on the other hand, allows blood to flow around the blocked artery by grafting a blood vessel (usually, part of a leg vein) to create a alternate route for the blood to flow.