How is angina relieved

And a blood clot could get stuck in the stent and block blood flow to the heart. In most cases, there are no clear reasons why heart attacks occur when they do. But sometimes your body releases adrenaline and other hormones into the bloodstream in response to intense emotions such as anger, fear, and the "fight or flight" impulse. Heavy physical exercise, emotional stress, lack of sleep, and overeating can also trigger this response. Adrenaline increases blood pressure and heart rate and can cause coronary arteries to constrict, which may cause an unstable plaque to rupture.

In rare cases, the coronary artery spasms and contracts, causing heart attack symptoms. If severe, the spasm can completely block blood flow and cause a heart attack. Most of the time in these cases, atherosclerosis is also involved, although sometimes the arteries are not narrowed. The spasms can be caused by smoking, cocaine use, cold weather, an electrolyte imbalance, and other things.

But in many cases, it is not known what triggers the spasm. Another rare cause of heart attack can be a sudden tear in the coronary artery , or spontaneous coronary artery dissection. In this case, the coronary artery tears without a known cause.

Call or other emergency services immediately if you think you are having a heart attack. If you typically use nitroglycerin to relieve angina and if one dose of nitroglycerin has not relieved your symptoms within 5 minutes, call Do not wait to call for help.

Unstable angina symptoms are similar to a heart attack. Call or other emergency services immediately if you think you are having a heart attack or unstable angina. People who have unstable angina often describe their symptoms as:.

The symptoms of stable angina are different from those of unstable angina. Stable angina occurs at predictable times with a specific amount of exertion or activity and may continue without much change for years. It is relieved by rest or nitrates nitroglycerin and usually lasts less than 5 minutes. Women are more likely than men to delay seeking help for a possible heart attack. Women delay for many reasons, like not being sure it is a heart attack or not wanting to bother others.

But it is better to be safe than sorry. If you have symptoms of a possible heart attack, call for help. When you get to the hospital, don't be afraid to speak up for what you need. To get the tests and care that you need, be sure your doctors know that you think you might be having a heart attack.

For more information, see Women and Coronary Artery Disease. People who are having a heart attack often describe their chest pain in various ways. The pain:. It is possible to have a "silent heart attack" without any symptoms, but this is rare. Coronary artery disease CAD is the major cause of heart attacks. So the more risk factors you have for CAD, the greater your risk for unstable angina or a heart attack. The main risks for CAD are:. Women have unique risk factors for heart disease, including hormone therapy and pregnancy-related problems.

These things can raise a woman's risk for a heart attack or stroke. See the topic Women and Coronary Artery Disease for more information on risk, symptoms, and prevention of heart disease. A type of protein in your blood may help find your risk of a heart attack. This protein is called a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein hs-CRP. It is found with a C-reactive protein CRP blood test. This test may help find your risk for a heart attack, especially when it is considered along with other risk factors such as cholesterol, age, blood pressure, and smoking.

But the connection between high CRP levels and heart disease risk is not understood very well. Most non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs , which are used to relieve pain and fever and reduce swelling and inflammation, may increase the risk of heart attack.

People who are older than 65 or who have existing heart, stomach, or intestinal disease are more likely to have problems. Be safe with medicines. Read and follow all instructions on the label. But taking aspirin isn't right for everyone, because it can cause serious bleeding. Talk to your doctor before you start taking aspirin every day. For information on how to prevent a heart attack, see the Prevention section of this topic. Do not wait if you think you are having a heart attack.

Getting help fast can save your life. Even if you're not sure it's a heart attack, have it checked out. Call or other emergency services immediately if you have symptoms of a heart attack.

These may include:. After you call , the operator may tell you to chew 1 adult-strength or 2 to 4 low-dose aspirin. Wait for an ambulance.

Do not try to drive yourself. Women's symptoms. By calling and taking an ambulance to the hospital, you may be able to start treatment before you arrive at the hospital. If any complications occur along the way, ambulance personnel are trained to evaluate and treat them.

If an ambulance is not readily available, have someone else drive you to the emergency room. Do not drive yourself to the hospital.

If you witness a person become unconscious, call or other emergency services and start CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The emergency operator can coach you on how to perform CPR. Emergency medical technicians and paramedics can start treatment in an ambulance. In larger cities and towns, you will be evaluated and treated by an emergency medicine specialist in the emergency room. In smaller communities, you may be evaluated by a family doctor.

For ongoing care, the emergency medicine specialist will refer you to a cardiologist. In smaller communities, your family doctor often will provide continuing care. If you need surgery, you will be referred to a cardiovascular surgeon. After you call for a heart attack, paramedics will quickly assess your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. They also will place electrodes on your chest for an electrocardiogram EKG, ECG to check your heart's electrical activity.

When you arrive at the hospital, the emergency room doctor will take your history and do a physical examination, and a more complete ECG will be done. A technician will draw blood to test for cardiac enzymes , which are released into the bloodstream when heart cells die.

If your tests show that you are at risk of having or are having a heart attack, your doctor will probably recommend that you have cardiac catheterization. The doctor can then see whether your coronary arteries are blocked and how your heart functions.

If an artery appears blocked, angioplasty —a procedure to open up clogged arteries—may be done during the catheterization. Or you will be referred to a cardiovascular surgeon for coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Some treatments and tests, such as cardiac catheterization, may be available only at regional medical centres. The tests and treatment your doctor chooses may depend on how close you are to a regional centre and the time it would take to transport you to the centre for treatment. If your tests do not clearly show a heart attack or unstable angina and you do not have other risk factors such as a previous heart attack , you will probably have other tests.

From 2 to 3 days after a heart attack or after being admitted to the hospital for unstable angina, you may have more tests. Even though you may have had some of these tests while you were in the emergency room, you may have some of them again. Doctors use these tests to see how well your heart is working and to find out whether undamaged areas of the heart are still receiving enough blood flow.

Emergency treatment gets blood flowing back to the heart. This treatment is similar for unstable angina and heart attack. Treatment begins in the ambulance and emergency room. You may get oxygen if you need it. You may get morphine if you need pain relief. The goal of your health care team will be to prevent permanent heart muscle damage by restoring blood flow to your heart as quickly as possible.

You also will receive medicines to stop blood clots. These are given to prevent blood clots from getting bigger so blood can flow to the heart. Some medicines will break up blood clots to increase blood flow.

You might be given:. Doctors try to do angioplasty as soon as possible after a heart attack. Angioplasty might be done for unstable angina, especially if there is a high risk of a heart attack. Angioplasty gets blood flowing to the heart. It opens a coronary artery that was narrowed or blocked during the heart attack. But angioplasty is not available in all hospitals. Sometimes an ambulance will take a person to a hospital that provides angioplasty, even if that hospital is farther away.

If a person is at a hospital that does not do angioplasty, he or she might be moved to another hospital where angioplasty is available.

If you are treated at a hospital that has proper equipment and staff, you may be taken to the cardiac catheterization lab. You will have cardiac catheterization , also called a coronary angiogram. Your doctor will check your coronary arteries to see if angioplasty is right for you.

Bypass surgery. If angioplasty is not right for you, emergency coronary artery bypass surgery may be done. For example, bypass surgery might be a better option because of the location of the blockage or because of numerous blockages.

Some treatments and tests, such as angioplasty, cardiac catheterization, and bypass surgery, may be available only at certain regional medical centres. After a heart attack, you will stay in the hospital for at least a few days. Your doctors and nurses will watch you closely. They will check your heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure, and medicines to make sure you don't have serious complications. Your doctors will start you on medicines that lower your risk of having another heart attack or having complications and that help you live longer after your heart attack.

You may have already been taking some of these medicines. Examples include:. You will take these medicines for a long time, maybe the rest of your life. After you go home from the hospital, take all of your medicines correctly. Cardiac rehabilitation might be started in the hospital or soon after you go home. It's an important part of your recovery after a heart attack. Cardiac rehab teaches you how to be more active and make lifestyle changes that can lead to a stronger heart and better health.

Cardiac rehab can help you feel better and reduce your risk of future heart problems. If you don't do a cardiac rehab program, you will still need to learn about lifestyle changes that can lower your risk of another heart attack.

These changes include quitting smoking, eating heart-healthy foods, and being active. It's also important to make healthy lifestyle changes. Read about living with angina for information about this Medicines Medicines to treat attacks If you have stable angina the most common type , you'll be given medicine to take when you have an angina attack. If you have an angina attack: Stop what you're doing and rest.

Use your GTN medicine. Take another dose after 5 minutes if the first one does not help. Call for an ambulance if you still have symptoms 5 minutes after taking the second dose. Medicines to prevent attacks To help avoid more attacks, you'll also need to take at least 1 other medicine every day for the rest of your life.

The main medicines used to prevent angina attacks are: beta blockers — to make the heart beat slower and with less force calcium channel blockers — to relax the arteries, increasing blood supply to the heart muscle If you cannot have either of these medicines, you may be given another medicine such as ivabradine, nicorandil or ranolazine.

Medicines to prevent hearts attacks and strokes Angina is a warning sign that you're at a higher risk of serious problems like heart attacks or strokes. Prescription medications may be necessary if lifestyle changes do not help your angina. The most commonly used medications for controlling angina symptoms are nitrates. They work by widening blood vessels, which allows more blood to reach the heart muscle.

Nitrates come in short- and long-acting forms: Short-acting nitrates. Other medications that may be prescribed to treat angina include beta-blockers which help the heart to pump more efficiently, and calcium antagonists which widen the arteries and allow more blood to flow to the heart.

Surgical procedures. Coronary artery bypass surgery blood vessels taken from elsewhere in the body are used to bypass blocked coronary arteries or coronary angioplasty opening up the coronary arteries with a special balloon may be required for severe angina.

A coronary angiogram is used to determine whether surgery or angioplasty is necessary or possible. Healthline Free phone: Website: www. Medical Library Topics. Home Medical library Angina Southern Cross Medical Library The purpose of the Southern Cross Medical Library is to provide information of a general nature to help you better understand certain medical conditions.

Click here to watch Donnette's story…. It is very important to be specific with your doctor about your symptoms. Recording and tracking your symptoms on the SecondsCount Tracking You r Angina Worksheet is one key piece, but angina affects you in many ways beyond the immediate experience of your symptoms.

Think about how angina affects you emotionally and physically each day, and tell your doctor. Sharing your answers to these questions is another great way to start the conversation. With the help of your doctor you can do a lot to treat your angina and feel better.

Choices you make each day can slow the build up of plaque in your arteries and reduce your risk of heart attack. In addition to nitroglycerin for immediate symptom relief, your doctor may prescribe one or more of the medications listed below to reduce your symptoms and risk of heart attack and cardiovascular problems.

To learn more about Medications for Angina, click here. It may seem obvious, but for medication to be effective it has to be taken as prescribed. Angioplasty is a minimally invasive procedure to open arteries that are blocked or narrowed by plaque to increase the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart. Angioplasty is performed by inserting a small tube called a sheath into an artery and then maneuvering long plastic tubes called catheters up to the arteries of the heart to take pictures that are used in identifying blockages that may be interfering with blood flow to the heart.

Once the blockages are identified the catheter can also be used to insert a stent , which is a mesh tube that is permanently inserted into the artery to keep it open. Your doctor may recommend coronary bypass surgery if a lengthy portion of an artery becomes narrowed, if an artery is severely blocked, or if the blockage is in a critical location.

A surgeon makes a cut near the blocked artery, and then attaches a new blood vessel from another part of the body above and below the blockage. By providing a channel for the blood to bypass the blockage, the new vessel, called a graft, allows blood to continue to flow to the leg and foot. Once the vessel is attached, the surgeon closes the cut with sutures or staples.

Click here to learn more about coronary bypass surgery, which is also known as coronary artery bypass graft surgery CABG. Generally, EECP is used to treat angina in patients who continue to have chest pain or discomfort even after treatment with medication and angioplasty and stenting.

It is also used to treat patients with blood flow problems in blood vessels too small to treat with other procedures. EECP is a non-invasive procedure that increases blood flow to the heart by using inflatable cuffs on the legs to push blood back to the heart in between beats.