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Lowering your risk factors for coronary heart disease—through heart-healthy lifestyle changes and ongoing medical care—can help you prevent a heart attack.

Your doctor will diagnose carotid artery disease based on your medical history, a physical exam, and results from one or more tests: ultrasound, angiography, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and computed tomography (CT) angiography.

Lifestyle changes—including quitting smoking, losing excess weight, avoiding the use of alcohol and illegal drugs, getting enough sleep, and reducing stress—and ongoing care can help you manage cardiomyopathy.

Certain diseases, conditions, or factors can raise your risk for cardiomyopathy. Major risk factors include a family history, preexisting disease or condition, diabetes, diseases that can damage the heart, long-term alcoholism, and long-term high blood pressure.

Living with peripheral artery disease and its symptoms requires ongoing health care and heart-healthy lifestyle changes. Talk to your doctor about taking part in a supervised exercise program, maintain routine foot care and inspection for sores, and take all medicines as prescribed.

Many people who have peripheral artery disease do not have any signs or symptoms. When people do have signs and symptoms of peripheral artery disease, they can include intermittent claudication, weak or absent pulses in the legs or feet, sore or wounds on the toes, feet, or legs that heal slowly, a pale or bluish color to the skin, a lower temperature in one leg compared to the other leg, poor nail growth, and erectile dysfunction.

Mitral valve prolapse is a condition in which the flaps of the mitral valve are floppy, or prolapsed, which can prevent the seal from forming, which results in a backflow of blood in the left atrium as blood is pumped through the heart.

People at greatest risk for metabolic syndrome have high abdominal obesity, an inactive lifestyle, and insulin resistance. Some racial and ethnic groups in the United States are at higher risk for metabolic syndrome than others.

The most common cause of peripheral artery disease is atherosclerosis, which may develop when certain factors damage the inner layers of the arteries. The buildup of plaque can severely narrow or block arteries, which limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your organs and other parts of your body.

Controlling certain risk factors by staying physically active, following a heart-healthy eating plan, quitting smoking, and losing weight if you’re overweight or obese can help prevent or delay peripheral artery disease and its complications. By following these recommendations, you can also prevent and control other conditions associated with peripheral artery disease, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and stroke.