Angina - A Symptom Of Heart Disease

While many people are familiar with heart disease and the fact that it affects a vast cross-section of the population, few know about the symptom known as angina. It can be agonizingly painful and in this article, we'll be speaking about angina and letting you know how to identify the symptoms as well as letting you know what you can do to lessen the symptoms.

In order to understand angina, you should first learn to be able to recognize the symptoms. Most patients who experience angina say that the symptoms feel like a pressure that is present within the chest. As well as pain within the chest, pain in the arms and the neck is also sometimes present. The pain most often occurs when the patient with heart disease is undergoing some type of physical activity, which can activate the angina. Shortness of breath may also occur during a bout of angina. In order to help the pain from angina to subside, you need to take a rest. If the pain isn't going away after a few minutes, you should seek medical attention. Doctors tend to group the symptoms of angina in two forms: stable angina and unstable angina. Stable angina is a type of pain that occurs regularly when physical activities are performed with few variances in symptoms and intensity. Stable angina can occur for a long period of time without significantly affecting an individual's health, but unstable angina can lead to some very serious consequences. Unstable angina often is a precursor to a heart attack, so you should seek medical attention if you are experiencing varying chest pains.

Doctors can test for the presence of heart disease, and consequently angina, by giving you an electrocardiogram. It's a simple procedure that can help doctors to diagnose any damage and blockage present in your heart and your arteries. Stress tests can also be used to monitor if your heart is performing abnormally when you are undergoing a form of physical activity. Cardiac catheterization is another process that is often used. In cardiac catheterization, a type of dye is injected into the arteries and the heart that can be picked up on an x-ray. By seeing the amounts of blockage present within the arteries, the seriousness of the degree of heart disease can be easily diagnosed.

There are many different forms of medication that can help you to live with a case of heart disease, lessening the symptoms of angina. Beta blocking medications, calcium channel blocking medications and nitrates are commonly used to decrease the suffering of those with angina. For advanced cases of heart disease, angioplasty surgery may be useful in lessening the problem. It's a type of surgery in which a balloon is used in order to push open arteries that may have become blocked from plaque. Bypass surgery is also an option to consider in which arteries from the legs are used in order to replace the damaged arteries surrounding the heart. If you are concerned about the possibility of angina and heart disease present within yourself, you should speak to your doctor in order to get a proper diagnosis.

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