SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Thoracic pain and sensation of sharp and stifling oppression, generally retrosternal, that is to say, centred behind the breastbone, and sometimes widespread (radiated) to one or another arm. The thoracic pain usually lasts from one or two minutes, even so much like 10 ó 15 minutes. Sometimes there is perceived a sensation of heaviness or oppression in the breast that does not come to pain.

The attacks break loose, generally, for exercise (to lift weights, sport, sexual activity) or stress emotionally, and they get better with the rest. Also they can break loose for extreme cold or for heavy meals.

Feeling of anxiety or of imminent death.

The angina is a symptom, and not an illness. It is the direct result of the blood absence in the cardiac muscle (isquemia). When one strains, the heart needs more oxygen to work more. When the coronary arteries are affected and cannot fit to the increase of the blood demand, the nerves of the heart transmit painful messages of urgent notice to the brain. The above-mentioned or radiated pain is due to the fact that the brain, for confusion, feels the impulses from nearby locations like the arms, the neck or the jaw.

The angina is frequent. In the men it happens generally after 30 years of age, and in the women later. The cause, in most of the cases, is the arteriosclerosis.

The stable angina is the one that always happens at the same exercise level, and the duration of the attacks is similar. When the attacks become more frequent and long or are not tied to physical activity, the cardiologists speak about unstable angina, which can be the notice of an imminent infarction and needs special treatment.

I DIAGNOSE

There are no laboratory tests for the diagnosis of the angina pectoris. Nevertheless, it can be useful to have some analyses to discard that damage has happened in the heart, as well as to detect the presence of situations like hipertiroidismo or anemia, which they can force to the heart to beat more rapid, use more oxygen, and therefore, to precipitate the angina.

The ECG only detects alterations in the precise moment of the pain. Subsequently, he can only confirm or discard in some cases that damage has produced to itself in the heart.

Therefore, the diagnosis of the angina is clinical, that is to say, he does not need assertion if the symptoms and the general case history are suggestive.

TREATMENT

The treatment of the angina pectoris is that of the cardiovascular disease, and it is directed to diminish the load of the heart and his needs for oxygen:

• Stop smoking.
• Lose the kilos of more.
• Exercise. To have angina does not mean that it has one that turns a sedentary being. In fact, the exercise is a key part in the handling of the cardiovascular disease. It has to be, certainly, compatible with the limitations imposed by the pain and by his general state (to see Cardiovascular Health).
• Medication.
• The nitroglycerine (Vernies, Cafinitrina, etc) dilates the coronary arteries and the pain occurs rarely revertir in minutes. It takes in pills under the language or also in spray. It can give headache as side effect.
• The calcium - antagonist or bloqueantes of the channels of the calcium they prevent the entry of calcium in the cells of the myocardium. This diminishes the tendency of the coronary arteries to become closer and also it diminishes the work of the heart and therefore his needs for oxygen. Also they diminish the arterial tension.
• Betabloqueantes. They act blocking many effects of the adrenaline in the body, in particular the stimulant effect on the heart. The result is that the heart beats more slowly and with less force, and therefore he needs less oxygen. Also they diminish the arterial tension.
• Surgery. In case of unstable angina or that resists to the treatment with medicines, the surgery can manage to correct the obstruction of the coronary glasses, well by means of by pass (derivation) or in some cases by means of the opening of the taken in glasses or angioplastia it would crown.

TO SEE ALSO

By Pass (derivation) of the coronary ones Cardiovascular disease. General information Cardiac Cateterismo. Coronariografía Study Isotópico Effort test. Tolerance to the exercise.

Infarction of Myocardium Infarction of Myocardium: the day later. Recovery Basic tests of Diagnosis in Cardiology The Coronary Unit Does the Infarction prepare the Aspirin?

WHAT DOCTOR CAN TREAT ME?

Select a province A Coruna Alava Albacete Alicante Almeria Asturias Avila Badajoz Barcelona Burgos Caceres Cadiz Cantabria Castellón Ciudad Real Cordova Cuenca Gipúzcoa Girona Granada Guadalajara Huelva Huesca Illes Balears Jaen La Rioja Las Palmas León Lleida Lugo Madrid Malaga Murcia Navarre Ourense Palencia Pontevedra Salamanca Santa Cruz Tenerife Segovia Seville Soria Tarragona Teruel Toledo Valencia Valladolid Biscay Zamora Saragossa

Service offered for