angina pectoris

angina pectoris, pain or discomfort in the chest, usually caused by the inability of diseased coronary arteries to deliver sufficient oxygen-laden blood to the heart muscle. When insufficient blood reaches the heart, waste products accumulate in the heart muscle and irritate local nerve endings, causing a deep sensation of heaviness, squeezing, or burning that is most prominent behind or beneath the breastbone and over the heart and stomach. In some instances, the sensation may radiate into the shoulders, the neck, the jaw, or the arms on one or both sides of the body. A feeling of constriction or suffocation often accompanies the discomfort, though there is seldom actual difficulty in breathing. Symptoms usually subside within five minutes. In acute cases (e.g., unstable angina or acute coronary syndrome), the skin becomes pale and the pulse is weak. Although symptoms may be mild in some cases, the peculiar qualities of angina pectoris may induce anxiety.

Attacks of angina can be precipitated by walking or more strenuous exertion; by anger, fear, or other stressful emotional states; by exercise after a large meal; or by exposure to cold or wind. Attacks are apt to recur following less or no exertion as coronary heart disease worsens. Angina pectoris is rare in persons under middle age and tends to be more common in men than in women. Men and women sometimes experience different symptoms; women, for example, may experience nausea or vomiting, feel sharp pain rather than pressure in the chest, or have symptoms of increased duration. Differences in the characteristics of angina are attributed to differences in the underlying conditions that precipitate angina; for example, coronary artery disease frequently is associated with angina in men, whereas coronary microvascular disease is a common cause of angina in women.

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An anginal attack can be relieved by rest or by taking nitroglycerin or other drugs that relax (and thus dilate) the blood vessels. The frequency of attacks can be lessened by the avoidance of emotional stress and by shifting to exercise that is less vigorous. In cases where the narrowing of the coronary arteries appears serious enough to cause a heart attack (myocardial infarction), methods must be used to widen the passages within the arteries or surgically replace the arteries with unblocked ones from another portion of the body.