Angina is pain, discomfort or tightness in the chest. Symptoms may be stable or unstable. However, when you're suffering from intense pain, you might not care what to call it. It's best to seek medical attention for angina just in case the symptoms point toward a heart attack.
Symptoms of Angina
Angina, or chest pain, is characterized by fatigue, sweating, anxiety, difficulty breathing or being short of breath, nausea and sometimes radiating pain through the chest, back, arms or into the neck. The pain may be sporadic or constant. Some patients describe the tightness or pressure as an elephant on their chest or describe a sharp pain like knives shooting through their chest. The sharp, jabbing, pulsating type of chest pain is more prevalent in women, who also may experience pain radiating into their abdomen.
Both stable and unstable angina can be very serious, up to and including death. Pain is the body's method of saying there's something wrong. There are levels of risk with chest pain. The highest risk is with unstable angina.
Unstable Angina
This type of chest pain can occur even when the patient is at rest and is not under physical exertion. Pain with unstable angina may be ranked closer to the higher end of a 1-to-10 scale. It will have a greater duration than stable angina, lasting 20 to 30 minutes or more, and it often is associated with a heart attack. Because of the risk of major heart damage and/or death, it is vital to seek help immediately if symptoms of unstable angina occur.
Stable Angina
By contrast, the symptoms of stable angina may be prompted by physical exertion, such as shoveling snow, mowing the lawn or simply by climbing stairs or walking. This type of chest pain recedes when such activities are stopped, and the symptoms often are misinterpreted as indigestion. Stable chest pain may develop into the unstable variety and therefore is a risk that should be recognized and investigated.
