This treatment has been shown to reduce the chance of having a second heart attack in people who have already had one. Angina is often controlled by drugs. The most commonly prescribed drug for angina is nitroglycerin, which relieves pain by widening blood vessels. This allows more blood to flow to the heart muscle and also decreases the work load of the heart. Nitroglycerin is taken when discomfort occurs or is expected.
Doctors frequently prescribe other drugs, to be taken regularly, that reduce the heart's workload.
Beta blockers slow the heart rate and lessen the force of the heart muscle contraction. Not enough information is currently available for longer acting calcium channel blockers. The use of calcium channel blockers, particularly ones that must be taken more than once a day have been discouraged in patients with coronary artery disease . Calcium channel blockers may still indicated for persons having high blood pressure without coronary artery disease or certain heart arrhythmias. Angioplasty is a treatment for heart disease.