Pain around my heart
I experience chest pain around my heart which also sometimes reaches up to my arm and with laboured breathing. My family doctor told me it is called Angina pectoris and could be a sign of heart attack. Please shed light on this problem. – Angela U. Angina pectoris is also called pain originating from the […]
I experience chest pain around my heart which also sometimes reaches up to my arm and with laboured breathing. My family doctor told me it is called Angina pectoris and could be a sign of heart attack. Please shed light on this problem.
– Angela U.
Angina pectoris is also called pain originating from the heart or mild heart attack. The heart is a muscle like other parts of the body. It needs blood flow to supply oxygen to allow it do its work. When there isn’t enough oxygen, the muscle starts to suffer, and when there is no oxygen, the muscle starts to die.
Heart muscle gets its blood supply from arteries (bloodvessels) known as the coronary arteries. Cholesterol (fats) build-up can occur in these blood vessels. This narrows the artery and can restrict the amount of blood that can flow through it. If the artery becomes too narrow, it cannot supply enough blood to the heart muscle when it becomes stressed. Heart attack is most often caused by narrowing of the arteries by cholesterol (fats) and their subsequent rupture.
Other risk factors are family history or heredity, smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes mellitus
Other problems not associated with bold vessels of the heart that can cause heart attack may include:
1. Anomalous Blood Vessels to the heart (deformed).
2. Inadequate oxygenation. Just like any other muscle, heart muscle requires adequate oxygen supply for it to work. If there isn’t adequate oxygen delivery, angina and heart attack can occur.
Symptoms
Symptoms of a heart attack may include:
1. Chest pain associated with shortness of breath.
2. Profuse sweating.
3. Feeling of vomiting (nausea).
The chest pain may be described as tightness, fullness, a pressure, or an ache.
Unfortunately, many people do not have these classic signs. Other presentations of heart attack may include: Indigestion, jaw ache, pain only in the shoulders or arms, shortness of breath, or nausea and vomiting.
When to seek medical care
Chest pain is almost always considered an emergency. Classic pain from a heart attack is described as chest pressure or tightness with radiation of the pain to the jaw and down the arm, accompanied by shortness of breath or sweating. But it is important to remember that heart problems may not always present as pain or with the classic symptoms. Indigestion, nausea, profound weakness, profuse sweating, or shortness of breath may be the main symptom of a heart attack.
Diagnosis of angina is made by history. Important questions include: When did the pain start? What were you doing? Did you have to stop? Did the pain get better with rest? Did the pain come back with activity? Did the pain stay in your chest or did it move somewhere else, like the jaw, teeth, and arm or back? Did you get short of breath? Did you become nauseous? Were you sweating profusely?
The medical history also includes assessing risk factors for heart disease, including:
1. Smoking
2. Hypertension
3. High cholesterol
4. Diabetes
5. Previous history of other blood vessel problems like stroke.
6. Family history of heart disease, especially at an early age.
Physical examination
While the diagnosis is based on history, the physical exam can give some clues. Electrocardiogram, blood tests, and chest X-ray are other tests that are likely to be performed to assist with the diagnosis.
Management will be to report early to hospital when one suffers pain and other discomfort that suggest heart attack, ensures rest and improve on positive living in line with the risk factors mentioned above.