Nitrates. Often used to treat angina, nitrates relax and widen your blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow to your heart muscle. Nitrates in pills or sprays act quickly to relieve pain during an event. There are also long-acting nitrate pills and skin patches.
Avoid foods that contain high levels of sodium (salt). Read food labels. Avoid foods that contain saturated fat and partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated fats. These are unhealthy fats that are often found in fried foods, processed foods, and baked goods.
Anything that causes your heart muscle to need more blood or oxygen supply can result in angina. Risk factors include physical activity, emotional stress, extreme cold and heat, heavy meals, drinking excessive alcohol, and cigarette smoking.
Angina pectoris tends to be accompanied by thrombosis [18]. Therefore, drinking an adequate amount of water may help reduce blood coagulation and result in a lower OR for angina pectoris.
Too much stress and anger can raise blood pressure. Surges of hormones produced during stress can narrow the arteries and worsen angina.
Regular exercise improves your body's ability to take in and use oxygen, which means you can do daily activities more easily and feel less tired. It can also help reduce your angina symptoms (like chest pain and shortness of breath) by encouraging your body to use a network of tiny blood vessels that supply your heart.
Ingestion of either 1 or 2 cups of caffeinated coffee increased the exercise duration until onset of angina (8 and 12%, respectively, p less than 0.05), whereas decaffeinated coffee had no effect.
Lifestyle changes are sometimes enough to make angina go away, though most people need one or more medications to ease or prevent angina. Some people need a procedure to open or bypass blocked coronary arteries.
Cruciferous Vegetables
Vegetables that belong to the cabbage family such as cauliflower, Brussels, broccoli, and sprouts should never be consumed raw. These vegetables contain sugar that is difficult to digest. Eating these vegetables raw may lead to a number of gastronomical problems.
Pain from angina is also, like GERD, relieved by changing bodily position, such as sitting up. The pain can be worse when lying down. If you suspect angina, seek medical help immediately. While the pain can subside by itself, the underlying causes are serious and always need medical treatment.
When sleep is interrupted, a quick surge in heart rate and blood pressure can cause angina, and studies have detected a correlation between sleep deprivation and chest pain. Non-cardiac chest pain can be tied to sleep as well.
Nitrates or beta blockers are usually preferred for initial treatment of angina, and calcium channel blockers may be added if needed. The number and type of medications used are often tailored to how frequently angina occurs in an average week.
Other direct cardioprotective effects of garlic in humans have also been reported, such as a decrease in unstable angina (48), an increase in the elastic property of blood vessels (49), and a decrease in peripheral arterial occlusive disease (50).
Black and green tea are the most popular kinds, accounting for 99% of the tea consumed in the United States. Both kinds of tea are loaded with caffeine and antioxidants called polyphenols, which are linked to lower blood pressure and better heart health.
You may have tests to check if you have angina and assess your risk of more serious problems like heart attacks or stroke. You may have: an electrocardiogram (ECG) – a test to check your heart's rhythm and electrical activity.
If it's well controlled, there's no reason why you cannot have a largely normal life with angina. You can usually continue to do most of your normal activities. One of the most important things you'll need to do is to make healthy lifestyle changes, such as: having a balanced diet.
Unstable angina is chest pain that is sudden and often gets worse over a short period of time. You may be developing unstable angina if the chest pain: Starts to feel different, is more severe, comes more often, or occurs with less activity or while you are at rest. Lasts longer than 15 to 20 minutes.
Angina and anxiety attacks are separate health events. But there are similarities between experiencing angina and experiencing a panic attack, including chest pain and shortness of breath. You can learn the differences, but if you have unexplained chest pain, seek immediate medical attention.
Angina is not the same as a heart attack. Unlike a heart attack, angina does not cause permanent damage to the heart muscle.