Typically, doctors screen for angina only when you have symptoms. However, your doctor may assess your risk factors for ischemic heart disease every few years as part of your regular office visits. If you have two or more risk factors, then your doctor may estimate the chance that you will develop ischemic heart disease, which may include angina, over the next 10 years.

 Prevention strategies:

To prevent angina, your doctor may recommend that you adopt heart-healthy lifestyle changes to lower your risk of ischemic heart disease, the most common cause of angina. Heart-healthy lifestyle changes include choosing a heart-healthy eating pattern such as the DASH eating plan, being physically active, aiming for a healthy weight, quitting smoking, and managing stress. You should also avoid using illegal drugs.

 You can help prevent angina by making the same lifestyle changes that might improve your symptoms if you already have angina. These include:

• Quitting smoking.

• Monitoring and controlling other health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

• Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight.

• Increasing your physical activity after you get your doctor's permission. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity each week. Plus, it's recommended that you get 10 minutes of strength training twice a week and stretch three times a week for five to 10 minutes each time.

• Reducing your stress level.

• Limiting alcohol consumption to two drinks or fewer a day for men, and one drink a day or less for women.

• Getting an annual flu shot to avoid heart complications from the virus.