Heart Disease
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What is Angina?
1.17 Angina is an uncomfortable feeling in the chest that is usually brought on by exercise or emotional upset. For some people, it is hardly a pain at all, but for others it can be severe. The commonest complaint is of a heaviness or tightness in the middle of the chest. This may spread to the left shoulder, arm and hand or to the neck, throat and jaw. Sometimes, though not often, an attack of angina can develop when you are resting. An attack is more likely when you are walking quickly, walking uphill, when you are upset or when you are excited. It is more likely after a meal, in cold weather or when you are carrying a heavy weight. Slowing down or resting will ease the pain. Angina is a built-in warning device by nature telling you that your heart is trying to do too much and that you must take it easier.
1.18 The commonest cause of angina is the gradual narrowing of the arteries of the heart by materials being deposited in their walls. Over many years these deposits increase until they reach a size where they actually restrict the flow of blood through the arteries. When the body is at rest and the heart is beating at its normal resting rate, sufficient blood passes into the heart muscle to nourish it. Under exercise or strong emotion the heart is put under strain by being made to beat faster and a point is reached when the flow of blood and the oxygen it carries is insufficient to meet the increased demand of the heart muscle. Those muscles which are starved of oxygen carried in the blood cannot function properly and this produces pain.
1.19 Pain in the chest does not always mean that there is anything wrong with your heart. Some people mistake simple aches from muscles and nerves in the chest for angina. Anxiety and tension are common causes of pain in the chest. Gall bladder trouble or indigestion can also cause pain, which seems to be near the heart. Pain from these causes is, usually related to food rather than exercise.
1.20 Risk Factors for Angina – Important risk factors for angina are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, stress, anger, lack of exercise, smoking, diabetes, heart disease in the family. But these risk factors do not make it certain that you will have heart trouble. Some people develop angina without having any of these risk factors.Rarely angina can also be caused if the muscle in the coronary arteries contracts and goes into spasm.
1.21 Difference between Angina and Heart Attack – Angina is the result of a temporary shortage of oxygen available to the heart muscle, usually caused by exercise or strong emotion. Anginal pain usually passes off within minutes after stopping exercise, and there is no lasting damage done to the heart muscle. With a heart attack, the pain is more severe and lasts longer and it does not decrease on rest. The patient frequently perspires and may feel sick. A heart attack is caused by an artery blocking off by a clot forming on a narrowed area. This causes permanent scarring and damage to an area of the heart muscle.
