Living With Carotid Artery Disease

If you have carotid artery disease, you can take steps to stop it from getting worse. Make lifestyle changes, follow your treatment plan, and know the warning signs of stroke.

Lifestyle Changes

• Follow a healthy eating plan that’s low in fats, sodium (salt), and cholesterol. Two examples of healthy eating plans are NHLBI's “Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol With TLC” and “Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH.”
• Increase your physical activity. Check with your doctor first to find out how much and what kinds of activity are safe for you.
• If you're overweight or obese, lose weight.
• If you smoke, quit. Avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.

For more information, see “How Is Carotid Artery Disease Treated?”

Treatment Plan

Following your treatment plan is important. It may help prevent your carotid artery disease from getting worse. It also can lower your risk for stroke and other health problems.

You may need to take medicines to control certain risk factors and to prevent blood clots that could cause a stroke. Taking prescribed medicines and following a healthy lifestyle can help control carotid artery disease. However, they can’t cure the disease. You will likely have to stick with your treatment plan for life.

Ongoing Care

If you have carotid artery disease, having ongoing medical care is important.

Most people who have the disease will need to have their blood pressures and blood cholesterol levels tested one or more times a year. If you have diabetes, you’ll also need routine blood sugar tests and other tests.

Testing shows whether these conditions are under control, or whether your doctor needs to adjust your treatment for better results.

If you’ve had a stroke or procedures to restore blood flow in your carotid arteries, you will likely need a yearly carotid Doppler ultrasound test. This test shows how well blood flows through your carotid arteries.

Repeating this test over time will show whether the narrowing or blockage in your carotid arteries is getting worse. Results also can show how well procedures to treat your arteries have worked.

Follow up with your doctor regularly. The sooner your doctor spots problems, the sooner he or she can prescribe treatment.

Stroke Warning Signs

Know the warning signs of a stroke and what to do if they occur. The signs and symptoms of stroke may include:

• Sudden weakness or numbness in the face or limbs, often on only one side of the body
• The inability to move one or more of your limbs
• Trouble speaking and understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Dizziness or loss of balance
• A sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Call 9–1–1 as soon as symptoms occur (don't drive yourself to the hospital). It's very important to get checked and to get treatment started within 1 hour of having symptoms.

You have the best chance for full recovery if treatment to open a blocked artery is given within 6 hours of symptom onset. Ideally, treatment should be given within 3 hours of symptom onset.

Make those close to you aware of stroke symptoms and the need for urgent action. Learning the signs and symptoms of a stroke will allow you to help yourself or someone close to you lower the risk for damage or death from a stroke.