Angina Symptoms

Angina Symptoms Angina also called as angina pectoris, is a type of severe chest pain. This occurs due to ischemia, lack of blood and oxygen supply to the heart muscle. The main cause for angina is the coronary artery disease caused due to atherosclerosis of the cardiac arteries.The cardiac arteries are blocked due to the deposition of fatty materials like cholesterol which in turn blocks the blood and oxygen supply to the heart thereby leading to chest pain or angina.

The most common symptoms of angina include pain and discomfort in the chest behind the breastbone. The pain can also be felt in the arms, upper central abdomen, back, neck area, shoulders, jaw or throat apart from the chest. Pain or discomfort which are the main angina symptoms may be mistaken for indigestion. Often the discomfort is described as pressure, heaviness, squeezing, burning, tightness and choking sensation. There are chances of recurrent pain even in a single day after physical exertion. Angina is triggered by physical exertion or emotional stress.

Angina symptoms vary from person to person. For some people the pain may be accompanied by sweating, breathlessness and nausea. This further increases the pulse rate and the blood pressure. The symptoms of angina occur fifteen to twenty minutes earlier before angina and it can be relieved by anti-angina medications or rest. If even after rest or medication, the pain does not stop or subside, it may be a heart attack which needs an emergency medical aid. But chest pain lasting only a few seconds is not angina; it lasts for about three to five minutes depending on the severity. Some people also experience autonomic symptoms which can also be considered as angina symptoms.

Angina is of three types - stable angina, unstable angina and variant angina. symptoms of angina occur in different phase depending on the type of angina. Stable angina can be predicted with its symptoms as it occurs mostly after physical exertion, whereas unstable angina occurs all of a sudden and variant angina mostly occurs during the nights or at dawn. Angina symptoms are almost common for all the types; the variance is only in the occurrence time.http://www.biblehealth.com/angina/angina-symptoms-ways-to-recognize.html