How Can Coronary Microvascular Disease Be Prevented?

No specific studies have been done on how to prevent coronary microvascular disease (MVD). It's not yet known how or in what way preventing the condition differs from preventing coronary artery disease (CAD). Coronary MVD affects the small coronary arteries in the heart, while CAD affects the large coronary arteries.

You can prevent or delay CAD by taking action to reduce your risk factors. You can't control some risk factors such as age and family history of heart disease. However, you can take steps to lower or control other risk factors such as high blood pressure, overweight and obesity, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking.

Regardless of your age or family history, you can lower your risk of heart disease with lifestyle changes. These changes include:

• Following a heart healthy eating plan. Two heart healthy eating plans are the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet (for people who have high blood pressure) and the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet (for people who have high blood cholesterol).
• Increasing your physical activity. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, and preferably, all days of the week. If you're trying to manage your weight and keep from gaining weight, try to get 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity on most days of the week.
• Quitting smoking, if you smoke.
• Losing weight, if you're overweight.
• Reducing your stress level.

It's also important to learn more about heart disease and the kinds of habits and conditions that can increase your risk.

• Talk to your doctor about your risk factors for heart disease and how to control them.
• Know your numbers—ask your doctor for these three tests and have the results explained to you.
  • Lipid profile. This test measures total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (sometimes called bad cholesterol), HDL cholesterol (sometimes called good cholesterol), and triglycerides (another form of fat in the blood).
  • Blood pressure.
  • Fasting blood glucose. This test is for diabetes.
• Know your body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. BMI is an estimate of body fat that's calculated from your height and weight. You can use the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's online BMI calculator to figure out your BMI. To measure your waistline, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out.
• Take medicines for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and controlling diabetes as your doctor prescribes.