Medication for Heart Attack with No Blockage

Antiplatelet medications like aspirin or clopidogrel are prescribed to prevent the formation of clots within your arteries.

Certain medications, such as calcium channel blockers and long-acting nitrates, help to reduce the risk of coronary artery spasm and promote better blood flow to your heart. These are the main treatments needed when there is coronary artery spasm.

Statins and other medications can lower blood cholesterol levels, which makes any plaque more stable and less likely to cause heart attack or stroke. If cholesterol levels get very low, plaque may even start to dissolve.

These drugs, such as lisinopril, enalapril, and ramipril, help relax and widen your blood vessels, which makes it easier for your heart to pump blood. Angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors work by blocking the production of a hormone that can constrict blood vessels. Observational research suggests ACE inhibitors may lower risk for further heart events after heart attack with no blockage.

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), such as losartan, valsartan, and candesartan, have many of the beneficial effects of ACE inhibitors, but they work in a slightly different way by blocking the action of a hormone that can constrict blood vessels. Observational research suggests ARBs may lower cardiovascular risk after heart attack with no blockage, making them an alternative to ACE inhibitors.

Beta blockers like atenolol or propranolol may be used to slow the heart rate, relieve high blood pressure, and lessen oxygen demand on the heart.