You were walking or exercising and suddenly you experience a pressure, tightness or squeezing directly behind or slightly to the left of your breastbone. This continues radiating up and down your arms, back, neck and jaw. Then you try to relax by sitting down, catch your breath and the discomfort subsides in 5 to 15 minutes. Others may find this condition normal but cardiologists call this angina pectoris or simply angina.
What is angina pectoris? Is it something to be alarmed of? This discomfort in the chest is brought on by physical or emotional stress, and relived by rest. In angina pectoris, the problem is that the cardiac muscle is not receiving as much oxygen as it requires, this is usually because of atherosclerosis. This means that fatty deposits have so narrowed the coronary arteries that the heart's demand for blood exceeds the supply available to it. It is a distinctive feature of coronary artery disease. Patients describe angina as a feeling of tightness, pressure of heaviness in the chest.
Angina Pectoris is caused by reduced blood flow to the heart that indicates underlying coronary artery disease, or heart disease, which puts you at greater risk for a heart attack.
Stable angina is a type of angina that is sometimes called chronic stable angina. It is a recurrent pain or discomfort in your chest, and possibly your jaw, shoulder, back or arm. It is very predictable and is usually triggered by specific things, such as exertion or emotional stress - times when the heart muscle needs more oxygen but cannot get it because of narrowed arteries. Stable angina generally goes away when you rest or when you take nitroglycerin. This medication opens up your blood vessels allowing needed blood and oxygen to reach your heart. The other type is unstable angina. It differs in the sense that it has no recognizable pattern. It can occur when a person is at rest.
According to Marvin Moser, M. D., a clinical professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine and author of "Week by Week to a Strong Heart", angina typically occurs during exertion or moments of excitement when the heart works harder and requires more oxygen-rich blood". In this way, the heart tells you that it needs more oxygen. Many factors such as smoking, stress and lack of exercise, unhealthy diet makes the condition worse. So, it is best to start eating healthy as early as now. You don't know, you may already be a candidate for angina pectoris.
