Q: What are the precautions to be taken by a person who had gone through angioplasty and they had put a stent to remove the clot?

A:The general precautions that need to be taken after angioplasty are in fact those needed to control the basic process of deposition of cholesterol. One should eat a low fat and low cholesterol diet with plenty of fibre and fresh food and vegetables. One must exercise regularly and brisk walking, a minimum of 20 minutes a day, is mandatory. One must keep the weight under control and avoid stresses of life to the maximum extent. One should have a very matter of fact and holistic approach to life and not take day to day problems to heart. Practicing Yoga and transcendental meditation always help. One should not only keep away from active smoking but one must also avoid passive smoking and keep away from all kinds of pollution. If one is hypertensive or diabetic then one must control them very vigorously and lipid levels in the blood (Lipid Profile) should also be kept with in desirable limit. These are in fact basic common sense things which are applicable to you as a patient of coronary artery disease just as they would be to general population. I think specific precautions can only be prescribed to you by your treating cardiologist who may find specific risk factors which puts you at an additional risk for cholesterol deposition and which may have to be treated with specific drugs.