Causes of Angina

What are the causes of angina or angina causes ?angina is another name for chest pain.

It often occurs when there is a decreased blood supply to the heart. Sometimes the pain is just a heaviness or pressure, sometimes it's simply a tightening in the chest, at it's worse, it may feel like an elephant sat on your chest and the pain radiates to other areas which include the jaw, arms back and neck. Occasionally people feel the pain in their teeth.

In addition to the pain, patients often have other angina causes and symptoms. These include shortness of breath, nausea, weakness, heartburn, indigestion and sweating.

The chest pain often comes after exertion, a heavy meal or when the person is in a stressful situation.

Sometimes the cause of angina occurs because the heart demands more blood oxygen and blockage of the arteries with a blood clot or plaque prevent sufficient blood to supply the oxygen. Other times coronary artery spasms cause angina. Both of these are serious conditions. There are, however, conditions that mimic angina. Some are serious but not lethal and others are merely uncomfortable.

Doctors classify angina in two ways. It is either stable, or unstable. Stable angina occurs frequently and almost predictably. It starts after a brisk walk or some other form of exertion. Normally this type of chest pain lasts only a few minutes. Medication such as nitroglycerin that opens the blood vessels often relieves the pain.

Unstable angina doesn't occur as frequently but it's much more serious. The symptoms and chest pain show no pattern but tend to be more severe than stable angina. Often this type of angina doesn't subside when given medication or it takes more for the person to feel relief. Normally this type of angina precedes a coronary and an immediate visit to a medical center emergency area is advisable.

Some symptoms mimic angina pectoris, Latin for squeezing of the chest. These include ones that require minimal attention to ones that require immediate attention. Pleurisy and pericarditis, for example both cause shortness of breath, shallow breathing and sharp chest pain. Pleurisy comes from inflammation of the pleural lining of the lungs and pericarditis from inflammation of the lining that covers the heart. Pleurisy may be from a viral infection or from a systemic disease like lupus. A visit to a medical facility is important.

Pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, mitral valve prolapse and aortic dissection typically all cause pain similar to angina. These conditions all require the attention of a physician to ascertain and treat the cause of the pain.

Some non-life threatening or less serious types of chest pain come from conditions such as pain that comes from rib fractures, muscle strains or spasms, nerve compression, shingles, acid reflux and esophageal muscle spasms, gall bladder attacks and panic attacks. While some of these go away on their own, others require treatment. Even if you believe the chest pain probably isn't angina, it's always best to seek treatment to confirm the causes of angina and treat it.

Doctors use exercise stress tests and EKG's as one tool of diagnosing the cause of angina. Stress ultrasounds, echocardiography, also provide a more accurate examination. Cardiac catheterization and CT coronary angiograms are other methods used for diagnosis of causes of angina .

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