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Angina pectoris (Angina), although it can be caused by a number of respiratory conditions, is also a sign of an underlying heart attack and can be life threatening if not treated quickly. Therefore, in order to avoid sudden death or the serious and unfortunate consequences of heart attacks, it is imperative that we better understand and be more aware of the signs and symptoms of angina which, unfortunately, are in fact often overlooked.
Table of Contents
WHAT IS ANGINA PECTORIS?
Angina is a disease of the heart when the heart is not supplied with enough oxygen for various reasons, most often due to the narrowing of the coronary arteries, thus causing attacks of angina pectoris.
If you have angina present, you will feel that there is a strong pressure on the chest area, especially the left chest and may be accompanied by a feeling of suffocation or burning, palpitations etc. .. The pain can radiate to the shoulder, arm, neck, jaw or back. Some people even feel bloated, indigestion.
Angina is usually triggered by stress or exertion, but can sometimes occur even at rest.
Men often have more obvious signs of angina than women. Even many women suffer from angina pectoris but only experience discomfort in the chest, neck, jaw or back without feeling too severe. It is easy for them to ignore and not think that they are suffering from angina pectoris.
SYMPTOMS OF ANGINA PECTORIS
As mentioned above, angina often occurs with exertion or stress, it is also the time when the heart is working the most and at the same time requiring the most oxygen supply. But if the respiratory functions are not guaranteed, or the coronary arteries are blocked, etc., the heart will be deprived of oxygen and angina attacks will occur. At this time, the patient will feel:
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Burning sensation, cramps
- Pain in the arms, neck, jaw, shoulders, back …
- Nausea Vomiting
- Feeling of indigestion
- Tiredness
- Shortness of breath
- Concerned
- Sweat
- Stunned
CAUSES OF ANGINA PECTORIS
There are many possible causes of angina pectoris, such as:
First of all, the number one cause of angina is coronary artery disease. Because the nature of angina attacks is caused by myocardial hypoxia, one of the direct causes is the narrowing of the blood vessels. This narrowing of the coronary arteries is caused by atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic plaques are made up mainly of fats, including bad cholesterol, which gradually build up over time and also gradually block the normal flow of blood to the heart.
Not to mention another really bad condition called vascular occlusion, which occurs when a blood clot is inserted into the same narrowing of the artery. Of course, in this case, if the blood vessels are not opened in time, a heart attack will occur and threaten the life of the patient.
Additionally, a number of other medical conditions can cause angina, although rare, such as:
- Coronary microvascular disease (MVD) – A pathological condition of the coronary microvascular system, including arterioles, pre-arterioles, and capillaries. These are very small structures, often not directly visible on coronary angiography or computed tomography. The disease is common in women, especially in postmenopausal women.
- Pulmonary arterial embolism. It is an occlusion of at least one pulmonary artery or a branch of the pulmonary artery, usually due to a thrombus rising from the deep veins of the lower limbs such as the veins of the lower limbs, the veins of the pelvis , the veins of the kidneys, etc.
- Myocardial hypertrophy – This is a disorder of the heart muscle, which makes the heart less able to contract and circulate blood, affecting the heart rate and causing arrhythmias.
- Aortic stenosis – The largest artery in the body that carries blood from the heart to the whole body.
- Then the heart diseases such as pericarditis, damaged heart valves or cardiomyopathy etc.
PEOPLE AT RISK AND RISK FACTORS FOR ANGINA PECTORIS:
People who have family members or themselves suffer from cardiovascular disease.
High blood pressure: High blood pressure reduces the elasticity of the arteries, making them weaker and more susceptible to damage. This will facilitate the formation of plaques or blood clots, causing narrowing of the coronary arteries, myocardial ischemia.
People with dyslipidemia, especially those with too high bad cholesterol in the blood: Dyslipidemia forms plaques in the coronary arteries, causing coronary artery disease.
Elderly: Due to degeneration and aging of body organs, especially blood vessels, causing atherosclerosis. In the elderly, coronary artery disease and ischemic heart disease are the two main causes of angina.
People with diabetes: Complications of diabetes are vascular complications and neurological complications. Damage to large blood vessels leads to atherosclerosis and the risk of heart attack.
Obese people, smokers, have an unhealthy lifestyle: There is a high risk of angina, because they often have metabolic disorders, very easily at risk of creating coronary atherosclerosis plaques.
If you are also one of these risk groups, you need to actively learn and prevent these diseases early.
TYPES OF ANGINA PECTORIS:
There are four main types of angina: stable angina, unstable angina, Prinzmetal’s angina, and microvascular angina.
Each form of angina has different levels of danger and methods of treatment. Knowing how to distinguish between types of angina will help you not miss the golden hour to be able to effectively manage angina, avoiding unfortunate consequences.
Stable angina
This is the most common type of angina, occurring during strenuous activities such as walking or climbing stairs because the heart needs more oxygen to function. At this point, the patient may experience pain spreading down the arm, back, or other area, accompanied by bloating and indigestion.
In addition, extreme stress, heat or cold after eating and smoking can trigger stable angina.
Episodes of stable angina are often predictable and improve with rest or vasodilators.
Stable angina is usually caused by chronic coronary artery disease.
This does not mean that stable angina is not dangerous for urgent intervention, but on the contrary, in some cases stable angina can worsen and become painful. For example, the pain becomes more frequent, stronger, and occurs even at rest, or the pain becomes less sensitive to medications. People affected by this transition go from angina only on exertion, to angina even at rest, which can then lead to a heart attack.
Unstable angina
Unstable angina is caused by a blood clot or plaque that suddenly partially or completely blocks a coronary artery.
Seizures may be more severe and prolonged than stable angina (may last for more than 30 minutes)
It is important to note that this type of angina is caused by acute coronary artery disease and does not improve even with rest or with usual medications. Unstable angina is a dangerous condition and requires immediate medical attention, as it indicates a possible heart attack. A fast or slow emergency time will determine the survival of the patient.
Prinzmetal vasospastic angina
It is a rare variant of angina that usually occurs in the middle of the night.
Although vasospastic angina is also painful at rest, as is unstable angina, the cause is quite different.
If the types of angina mentioned above are directly related to the blockage of the interior of the coronary artery by plaques or blood clots, then angina is not related to the plaques. same arteries. Coronary artery spasm also narrows the lumen of the artery and slows blood flow to the heart, causing a lack of oxygen to the heart and producing symptoms similar to angina pectoris mentioned above.
Vasoconstrictor angina usually occurs on a regular basis and returns periodically. Two typical times are: the second half of the night or the period after a meal.
Vasoconstrictor angina can lead to syncope and tends to be severe and requires prompt treatment, especially in cases where the coronary arteries also have atherosclerotic plaque, when the artery edge is both narrowed due to spasm and blocked due to internal atherosclerotic plaques. Right now the risk of having a heart attack is very high.
Microvascular angina
Microvascular angina is a form of angina caused by pathological conditions of the coronary microvascular system including arterioles, pre-arterioles, and capillaries.
Microvascular angina lasts longer and also damages the heart more severely than all other types. It is accompanied by symptoms such as shortness of breath, trouble sleeping, fatigue, lack of energy and is triggered by mental stress.
COMPLICATIONS OF ANGINA ATTACKS
It is easy to see that angina can interfere with some daily activities and requires rest.
But, the most serious complication of angina attacks is myocardial infarction leading to the risk of sudden death and this risk should be taken into account. In this case, the coronary artery is no longer just narrowed, as in angina pectoris, it is completely blocked.
Therefore, you should get medical attention and monitoring from the first attack of angina pectoris.
ACCURATE DIAGNOSES OF ANGINA PECTORIS
If you suspect unstable angina or pain related to severe heart disease, your doctor will order additional tests such as an EKG, stress test, x-ray, coronary angiography and cardiac catheterization, coronary angiography, blood tests… the doctor will find out the source of the pain.
Of course, that’s the doctor’s job.
AND YOU, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAVE ANGINA PECTORIS?
First of all, you should always remember that angina is first and foremost a warning that the heart is calling for help because of the pain due to lack of oxygen, before it leads to a condition. serious, including a heart attack.
Therefore, as soon as the first symptoms appear, you should immediately rest and quickly go to the doctor to get the diagnosis of angina pectoris through various medical examinations, find the cause and seek treatment.
When you say you need to rest when you have angina, how do you rest? As soon as you feel angina, you should stop, sit in a semi-sitting position and rest. Then take an antianginal medication such as nitroglycerin if your doctor has already prescribed it for you.
Remember that the occurrence of angina can easily make you anxious and scared. However, you really have to try to stay calm, because the more stressed you are, the more severe the pain will be.
If the pain does not go away after 10 minutes or gets worse despite rest or medication, call 911 immediately or have someone drive you to the hospital. Note that, if possible, avoid driving alone to the hospital to avoid endangering not only yourself but also others on the road.
In the hospital, how can doctors treat you? Here are some examples to give you an idea:
TREATMENT OF ANGINA PECTORIS
In the hospital, doctors will use drugs or surgery to restore blood flow to the heart.
Medicines to treat angina pectoris
Nitrates are the most common class of drugs used in the treatment of angina pectoris.
Thanks to the coronary vasodilator effect, the drug will help increase blood flow to the heart, thereby reducing the lack of oxygen in the heart. Typically in this group of nitrate drugs are the forms of sublingual tablets, sublingual spray, tablets, ointments, patches, infusions with such names as nitroglycerin, isosorbide dinitrate and isosorbide mononitrate, etc.
In addition to nitrates, the patient may be prescribed by the doctor to use other drugs to treat angina such as blood thinners like aspirin, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors. .. to help control blood pressure and cholesterol controls, slows heart rate, dilates blood vessels and reduces pressure on the heart, and prevents blood clots …
Finally, if necessary, when the above drug measures are not sufficient, the patient should be operated on by surgery.
Surgery
Certain types of surgeries may be prescribed by the doctor if the medications do not control the angina, such as: angioplasty, stent grafting, and coronary artery bypass grafting … These methods will make the angina larger. of blood vessels improves blood flow to the heart, relieves chest pain and prevents heart attacks.
In all cases, the medical follow-up of the anginal person must be regular. And if you do develop a new symptom, it is imperative that you see it quickly without waiting for your next appointment.
PREVENTION OF ANGINA PECTORIS
Using herbs
The use of herbs with the effect of smoothing the meridians, cleaning the blood vessels and treating thrombosis, has been applied in oriental medicine for thousands of years. Today, modern science has also had numerous results proving that herbs have very specific effects on dilating blood vessels, increasing blood flow, improving coronary circulation, reducing pressure on heart and angina reduction and prevention of myocardial infarction, heart failure.
Common herbs used here are dan ginseng, fenugreek, rose flower, etc.
So, in addition to using western medicine, you can also refer to traditional medicine doctors so that you can apply valuable traditional medicines that have the effect of ventilating the blood, preventing and contributing to safe and active treatment. effective angina pectoris.
And, you should always remember that besides the factors that cannot be changed such as gender, age, genetics, etc., lifestyle change is an important first thing that each of us can and do. must do to prevent and treat angina.
Lifestyle change
Lifestyle changes won’t stop your angina immediately, but in the long run, it will help prevent angina from occurring. Here are some healthy habits to adopt on a daily basis:
- Avoid heavy or strenuous work and get rest immediately if angina occurs during heavy work.
- Avoid overeating or eat a lot of foods that cause indigestion and bloating if you notice chest pain appearing after a meal.
- Always keep psychological comfort, avoid stress, prolonged stress.
- Stop smoking and take steps to lose weight if you are obese
- Limit your intake of fats, animal organs, and refined grains.
- Take the medicine completely and exactly as directed by your doctor to control blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc.
- Exercise regularly with appropriate exercise content every day, it is best to exercise for about 30 minutes to 1 hour per day. Exercises that work very well for chest pain are yoga, tai chi, swimming, etc.
- Finally, people with angina should also be advised to get the flu shot every year to avoid a heart attack later in life.
