Angina is a type of chest pain caused by a reduction in blood flow to the heart muscle. Patients typically describe angina as pressure, heaviness or tightness in the chest. The most common forms of angina are stable and unstable angina. Stable angina is persistent and recurring, most commonly experienced with exertion whereas unstable, or acute angina, refers to new or sudden chest pain. Physicians often treat acute angina based on whether the patient’s angina is mild, moderate or severe.
Lifestyle Changes
When angina is mild, physicians often choose to treat angina with lifestyle changes before turning to medications or surgical options. Patients are commonly advised to stop smoking, avoid large meals and eat a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. Physicians commonly advise patients to start an exercise program. Overweight patients and patients with diabetes should talk to their physicians or a nutritionist about a diet program to help lose weight and control blood sugars, both of which can help prevent angina attacks. According to MayoClinic.com, stress also plays a key role in helping patients avoid angina attacks. Physicians can often recommend ways to help lower stress levels which will also help prevent angina attacks.
Medications
Physicians may often prescribe medications to help with angina. Nitroglycerin is the drug most often used, according to the American Heart Association. Nitroglycerin relaxes veins and coronary arteries, helping to reduce the amount of blood that returns to the heart, easing the heart's workload. Physicians also commonly prescribe aspirin for its ability to reduce blood clotting, which allows blood to flow easier through narrowed heart arteries, reducing the risk of heart attack.
Medications that belong to a class of drugs known as beta-blockers may also effectively help with acute angina by blocking the effects of the hormone epinephrine, causing the heart to beat slower and with less force, thereby reducing blood pressure. Physicians may also choose to add a cholesterol-lowering statin, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors to help relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.
Medical Procedures
When patients continue to experience unstable angina, physicians may consider angioplasty and stenting procedures. Angioplasty is a procedure that involves temporarily inserting and expanding a balloon at the site of the blockage to help open the narrowed artery. Surgeons will commonly place a narrow coil known as a stent at the same time to help prop open the artery and decrease the chance of it narrowing again. MayoClinic.com explains that there is a possibility of the artery collapsing again and that the procedure is often expensive.
