Drug treatment of coronary artery disease

[Becky]

The heart muscle needs a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood. The coronary arteries, which branch off the aorta just after it leaves the heart, deliver this blood. Coronary artery disease that narrows one or more of these arteries can block blood flow, causing chest pain (angina) or an acute coronary syndrome (see also Overview of Coronary Artery Disease).
In an acute coronary syndrome, sudden blockage in a coronary artery greatly reduces or cuts off the blood supply to an area of the heart muscle (myocardium). The lack of blood supply to any tissue is termed ischemia. If the supply is greatly reduced or cut off for more than a few minutes, heart tissue dies. A heart attack, also termed myocardial infarction (MI), is death of heart tissue due to ischemia.
There are many different reasons doctors give drugs to people with coronary artery disease:

To relieve chest pain by reducing the heart