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Know the main differences between angina and the heart attack

Angina chest and a heart attack can feel the same, causing chest pain due to a reduction in blood flow to the heart. However, with angina, pain is caused by a brief interruption of blood flow, often during physical effort or stress. With a heart attack, chest pain does not care about rest or medication due to the complete obstruction of a coronary artery.

In some cases, angina can be a warning sign of a heart attack, especially with unstable angina in which pain can develop at rest. Unstable angina is as much a medical emergency as a heart attack and may require the same treatments.

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Angina

  • Caused by the temporary interruption of blood flow to heart muscle

  • Causes thoracic pain or pressure that lasts a few seconds or minutes

  • Triggered by physical effort or stress

  • Pain often relieved with a few minutes of rest or angina medication

Heart attack

  • Caused by the blocking of a coronary artery which leads to a death of the heart tissues

  • Causes persistent chest pain or chest pain that come and come

  • Can suddenly develop for no apparent reason

  • Pain that is not relieved by rest, position changes or drugs

Types and location of pain

Chest, also known as angina pectoralisis most often caused by the brief interruption of blood flow to a coronary artery that maintained the heart muscle (myocardium). It differs from a heart attack, medically known as Myocardial infarctionIn which the blood flow in a coronary artery stops completely, causing tissue death (infarction) of the heart muscle.

Symptoms of angina chest and a heart attack can be surprisingly similar, but vary in gravity from one person to another:

  • Angina: Many complain of thoracic discomfort, such as heaviness, pressure, waterproofing, compression, burn or a feeling of suffocation rather than pain. There may also be radiant pain on the back, jaw, shoulder, neck area, upper central abdomen or jaw.
  • Heart attack: Pain is also often described as a seal, pressure, tear, burn or a feeling of compression. The pain will also generally scratch towards the left shoulder, but could also radiate towards the jaw, the neck, the right arm, the shoulder, the back and the upper abdomen.

Angina chest and heart attack can imitate the symptoms of heartburn, including burning sensations just behind the kindergarten. However, with angina chest or a heart attack, pain is not affected by your body position or taking a deep inspiration, which can help relieve stomach burns.

Duration

The duration of chest pain is an important difference between angina and a heart attack. In comparison:

  • Angina pain is short -lived, generally persistent for a few minutes before securing with a rest or a dose of your angina medication.
  • Heart attack pain is persistent, continuing at the same intensity, either to worsening or to come and to come intermittently over several hours.

In short, if the chest pain is clearing, it is less likely a heart attack.

Severity

Angina chest and heart attacks can vary considerably in their severity and other symptoms that can accompany them.

Heart attack

In general, heart attacks tend to be worse than angina due to the destruction of heart muscle. This can lead to symptoms that are less commonly observed with transitional episodes of angina, such as:

The severity of the symptoms of the heart attack varies considerably. While some people experience conventional signs and symptoms, others – especially men – may feel a “silent” heart attack with little or no symptoms.

Some may experience nausea, fatigue, vomiting and shortness of breath, but without any chest pain. This is particularly true for women with a heart attack.

Angina

The severity of angina can differ depending on whether the condition is stable or unstable, as follows:

  • Stable chestSometimes known as “effort chest”, generally occurs with physical effort or stress. It causes chest pain or pressure that only lasts a few seconds or minutes. In many cases, pain is the only symptom.
  • Unstable angina is characterized by chest pain that can occur at rest or occur with less effort than what had triggered it in the past. The pain can last 10 to 15 minutes or more. The longer the pain persists, the more likely you are to feel symptoms similar to those of a heart attack, including fatigue, shortness of breath, sweating and nausea.

Unlike stable angina, unstable angina is considered a medical emergency. It is an unpredictable condition which can develop suddenly and quickly, increasing the risk of a heart attack and a sudden death if it is not treated immediately.

Triggers and relief

Angina and heart attacks are largely the result of a coronary disease (CAD), in which the arteries supplying blood to the heart become narrow and obstructed with fatty deposits called plates. Even so, the symptoms are caused by very different things.

Angina

Angina results from an imbalance in the supply and demand for oxygen of the heart. Physical effort and stress are current triggers.

In people with CAD, oxygen supply to the heart can be adequate to rest. However, with effort, the offer may well fall under the requests of the heart, leading to angina. In cases like this, a few minutes of rest can be everything you need to resolve the imbalance and relieve pain.

Stress can also trigger angina by releasing a hormone called cortisol, which shrinks blood vessels (vasoconstriction). When this happens, a rapid action vasodilator called nitroglycerin can relax blood vessels and restore oxygen levels to the point where angina pain ceases.

Heart attack

Heart attacks occur when blocking blood flow to heart muscle is important enough to cause tissues.

This generally happens when the plate on the walls of an artery breaks, causing the formation of a blood clot and obstructing blood flow. This can happen in a coronary artery itself or from the plate in the arteries of your arms and legs (called peripheral artery disease) which breaks and moves towards the heart.

Although this can happen in the absence of an immediate trigger, uncontrolled hypertension (blood pressure) can increase the risk of spontaneous rupture of the plate.

This is particularly true with malignant hypertension, a medical emergency in which a drug called nitropress (nitroprussiate) may be necessary to quickly lower blood pressure, as well as the risk of a heart attack or a stroke.

Results and complications

Angina chest independently doubles the risk of a major cardiovascular event, including a heart attack. With appropriate treatment – including the consumption of a healthy and healthy diet, leave cigarettes and taking prescribed drugs – you can prevent the stable chest from becoming unstable.

With unstable angina, the risk of a heart attack has increased no less than twelve times.

In the event of a heart attack, the risk of death in hospitalized patients is around 19%, with men twice as likely to die from the event that women. Up to 60% of deaths are one of those who died before joining a hospital.

Treatment

Angina chest and heart attacks require treatment with a heart specialist called cardiologist. Many of the same drugs and treatments are used for everyone.

These include drugs such as:

In people with angina to process treatment, unstable chest or heart attack, specialized surgical procedures may be necessary to directly improve blood circulation, in particular:

What if you have angina

Having angina does not necessarily mean that you will get a heart attack. In addition, all cases of angina chest are not due to a coronary disease. Some are the result of arterial spasms, cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), congestive heart failure (CHF) or certain heart valve problems.

If you develop signs of angina, consult a health care provider. They can refer to a cardiologist (heart specialist) to help determine the cause and direct the appropriate treatment course. Depending on the cause, some cases can be managed with lifestyle changes, such as:

  • Eat a diet rich in whole vegetables, fruit and grains to reduce your cholesterol
  • Exercise at moderate intensity most days for at least 150 minutes per week
  • Take seven to nine o’clock in sleep per night to manage stress and improve heart function
  • Limit or abstain from alcohol, which can increase blood pressure and triglycerides levels
  • Take measures to lose weight if you are overweight or if you have obesity
  • Stop cigarettes, which causes the narrowing of blood vessels

Medicines are also commonly prescribed. Strict treatment for treatment can improve results.

Summary

Angina is caused by the temporary interruption of blood flow to the heart, while heart attacks are caused by the complete blocking of the blood flow which causes death of heart tissues. Both can cause several of the same symptoms, but angina pain tends to last only a few minutes, while the pain in the heart attack persists uninterrupted or is in waves.

Angina chest can also be triggered by effort and stress, while heart attacks can occur without provocation when the arterial plaque spontaneously breaks.

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