When the blood supply to your heart is reduced, or partially cut off, you will experience a variety of symptoms, the most common of which is chest pain. The restricted blood flow is caused by coronary artery disease, or disease to the vessels that supply blood to your heart, and the resulting pain is called angina, or angina pectoris. Pectoris refers to the chest muscles. There are several type of angina, and there are many treatment options if you begin to experience angina, or already do.
Stable Angina
Stable angina is the most common form of angina. Stable angina is fairly predictable, and usually occurs after something that puts strain on your heart, causing it to have to pump harder. A person with stable angina will usually feel chest pain, and other symptoms such as nausea, pain in the arm or shoulder, sweating, shortness of breath, and dizziness, after exertion. This may be climbing the stairs, or shoveling snow. The pain from stable angina will usually last only a few scary minutes, and if you take a medication for your angina, the medication will generally relieve the symptoms more quickly.
Unstable Angina
Unstable angina is always a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment. That means calling 911. Unstable angina is not brought on by exercise, but occurs while you are at rest, and there is no obvious cause for the pain, such as doing something strenuous. Unstable angina does not disappear in a few minutes, but can last 30 minutes, or longer and may signal the start of a heart attack. If you’ve had stable angina and there is a sudden change in your symptoms, and the severity, you need to get help as soon as possible. Your angina medication may help or may not help when experiencing unstable angina.
Variant Angina
Variant angina is a rare form of angina that happens when you are at rest, and it is often very severe pain, that may or may not be relieved by your medication for your chest pains. It is caused by spasms in your coronary arteries. If you experience these types of symptoms, treat it as an emergency and all 911 right away.
For women angina may feel different than it does for a man. Women are more likely to feel a stabbing pain in their chest, rather than the crushing chest pain that men feel. Women are also far more likely to have nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath. Some women feel no chest pain with angina, but experience the other symptoms, instead.
Treatment for Angina
There are a variety of treatment options for angina. The goal with all is to keep the blood flowing to the heart properly. The first treatment option, and one that all should employ, no matter what else is done for angina, consists of lifestyle changes. This means quitting smoking, losing weight, eating a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables and fruits, and low in bad fat. It also means developing an exercise plan along with your doctor, taking good care of your diabetes, if you have it, and learning how to lower and cope with stress. That looks like a lot of work, and some may need to change almost everything, but these are changes are will make for a healthier you all around.
There are several types of medications that are used to treat angina. The most recognized is nitroglycerin, a nitrate that helps to relax blood vessel. Many people with angina take an aspirin daily, as aspirin keep the blood thinner, and may prevent clots from forming. Beta blockers, such as Inderal, help the heart to beat more slowly, thus lowering blood pressure. Calcium channel blockers, and ACE inhibitors also work to relax the blood vessels by differing means. Statins may be used to lower dangerously high cholesterol levels. One or more of these drugs may be used if you suffer from angina.
Surgical treatments for angina include balloon angioplasty, and coronary artery bypass. These procedures are done to remove blockages, widen arteries, and in the case of a coronary artery bypass, disease arteries are replaced. These are treatment options for unstable angina to prevent a heart attack. They may also be used if you have long standing stable angina that medications are no longer helping.
Angina is scary, and it is serious. If you are experiencing chest pains that are sudden and do not go away quickly, get immediate help. If you are having chest pains and have been ignoring them because they do go away as soon as you relax and rest, it is time that you speak with your doctor about your symptoms, and do not delay. Angina is treatable, and there is a treatment option that is right for you.
Angina
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