There are some medications that can be given to you to help prevent an embolus from occurring (breaking off of blood clott into circulation). Often times a stent gets placed if they find that your arteries are narrowing too much/cutting off blood supply. A stent is basically a small cylinder made of meshing material: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/...ts_placed.html

Also, it is possible for Doctors to break up the plaque during a cardiac catheter procedure by inflating a small balloon at the site of plaque build up: http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_dilation_art.htm

It's likely that you will be placed on anticoagulants to help prevent thrombosis from occuring: http://www.americanheart.org/present...dentifier=4745

Many Americans have this... about 4.6 million - a lot of times, as you mentioned, diet and exercise have a hand in this disease...

This will be a really good resource for you: http://www.americanheart.org/present...tifier=1200000

And as always - KIT with your doctor
Good luck!