Angina is a chest discomfort caused by the poor blood flow through the blood vessels (coronary vessels) of the heart muscle (myocardium). Unstable angina is a condition where your heart doesn’t get enough blood flow and oxygen which may even lead up to a heart attack. Coronary artery disease arising out of atherosclerosis is by far the most common cause of unstable angina. Atherosclerosis builds up fatty material called plaque on the walls of the arteries which causes arteries to become narrowed and less flexible, which obstructs blood flow to the heart, causing chest pain. People with unstable angina are at at a high risk of having a heart attack though coronary artery spasm is a rare cause of angina. Risk factors for coronary artery disease include diabetics or family history of early coronary heart disease. A close relative such as a sibling or parent had heart disease before age 55 (in a man) or before age 65 (in a woman), high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, males, lack of exercise, obesity, smoking and advancement of age.
Symptoms of angina may include chest pain that you may also feel in the shoulder, arm, jaw, neck, back, or other areas, discomfort that feels like tightness, squeezing, crushing, burning, choking, or aching, discomfort that occurs at rest and does not easily go away when you take medicine, breathlessness and sweating.
Unstable angina is chest pain that is sudden and gets worse over time. You may be developing unstable angina if the chest pains, 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 – 20 minutes, occurs without cause (for example, while you are asleep), does not respond well to a medicine called nitroglycerin, occurs along with a drop in blood pressure or shortness of breath.
Unstable angina is a warning sign that a heart attack may happen soon. It needs to be treated right away. So if you have any type of chest pains, make sure to see your doctor immediately.
During an unstable angina event, you may get heparin (or another blood thinner) and nitroglycerin (under the tongue or through an IV), other treatments may include medicines to control blood pressure, anxiety, abnormal heart rhythms, and cholesterol (such as a statin drug).Often, if a blood vessel is found to be narrowed or blocked, a procedure called angioplasty and stenting can be done to open the artery.
Unstable angina is a sign of more severe heart disease Unstable angina may lead to abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), a heart attack and/or heart failure.
If you think you are having a heart attack, get medical treatment right away.
