Self-Care at Home

If a person has arteriosclerosis, he or she will need to make the following lifestyle changes:

• Eat food that has low saturated fat and low cholesterol.

• Restrict the salt-intake in the diet if one has high blood pressure.

• Increase the consumption of food that has high fiber content (vegetables and fruits).

• Eat fish at least twice a week.

• Quit smoking.

• Lose weight if overweight.

• Exercise under the supervision of a health care provider.

• If the patient has elevated blood glucose, he or she will have to regularly monitor blood glucose levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels.