Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and then examine you. He or she will also ask about your personal and family medical history.

Blood samples will be tested in the lab to check the levels and types of fats (lipids) in your blood. Your doctor will order an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG).

Your doctor may want to know how your heart works when you exercise. You may have an exercise treadmill test. An echocardiogram (ultrasound images of the beating heart) may be done after you exercise on the treadmill. Another test that may be done is a scan of the heart. These scans are done before and after you exercise. They use a radioactive dye that is injected into one of your veins. If there is a problem with blood flow though an artery, the pictures will show that the dye is not getting to the heart muscle. A special kind of CT scan may also show coronary artery disease.

Heart catheterization and angiography are often needed. Angiography takes X-ray pictures of the coronary arteries. This allows the doctor to check the blood flow, including the number, location, and size of any blockages. This information will help determine the best treatment for you.

The goal of treatment is for you to resume a full and active lifestyle. Your treatment depends on many factors, such as your age, heart muscle function, and other health problems.

At first, treatment may include diet changes and an exercise program. Your doctor may prescribe medicine. If this treatment doesn't work, or if your coronary arteries are badly blocked, the blockages may need to be opened up or bypassed.

In balloon angioplasty, a small balloon is inserted into the artery to the blockage and then blown up to flatten the blockage against the artery wall. Angioplasty may be combined with inserting a stent. A stent is a device that keeps the artery open to improve blood flow.

If you have many blockages, or if they are bad, your doctor may recommend coronary artery bypass surgery. Arteries from the chest or veins from the legs or arms are used to make a path around blocked areas in the heart artery.