3 Types Of Angina (Chest Pain) That May Occur With Coronary Heart Disease

Many people who eventually end up with a heart attack experience angina first. Angina is chest pain that feels like pressure or a squeezing sensation in your chest, and which occurs parts of your heart lack adequate blood flow. It is a symptom of heart disease that develops due to a blockage in the arteries, which leads to decreased blood flow in blood vessels that carry oxygen-filled blood to the muscles of your heart.

While angina can feel like you are having a heart attack, it tends to go away quickly. However, it is a signal of potentially fatal heart problems. Therefore, you should pay attention if you experience angina and contact your doctor to find out exactly what is happening with your body and how you can prevent it from progressing to a heart attack.

1. Stable angina

Medically known as angina pectoris, stable angina is the most common type of angina to develop alongside coronary heart disease. It usually only lasts approximately a few minutes at a time. You will feel pain, discomfort, squeezing or pain in your chest. It can also be felt in your neck, back, arm or jaw. While it may feel like you are experiencing a heart attack, it is not one. It is, however, a sign that you may eventually have a heart attack.

Stable angina develops because one or more of the blood vessels that supply your heart with blood become narrow or blocked (which is known as ischemia). It is usually triggered by physical activity or stress. When you are at rest, the blood vessels, which have narrowed, still allow enough blood to reach the heart. However, when the demand for oxygen is high (such as when you are exercising) your heart muscles need more oxygen. Thus, you develop angina, which is basically a sign that you have narrow blood vessels.

Other symptoms of stable angina include:

• You experience more pain or discomfort when you are physically exerting yourself
• Your pain is not a surprise and it feels the same whenever you have it
• Your symptoms only last for five minutes or less
• Your symptoms are relieved when you rest or when you have medicine
• Your chest pain spreads to other regions (such as your back)

2. Unstable angina

Unstable angina, sometimes called acute coronary syndrome, is associated with unexpected chest pain, and unlike stable angina, it actually occurs while resting. People may develop unstable angina because of decreased blood flow to the heart muscle, as the blood vessels that supply oxygen-rich blood are narrowed by fatty deposits that can rupture. These ruptured fatty deposits damage the blood vessels that supply the heart, leading to formation of blood clots that can fully block the flow of blood.

Unstable angina is quite dangerous and constitutes an emergency situation. The pain associated with unstable angina can be very strong and last for a long period of time. It can also come back again. Significantly, chest pain associated with unstable angina can signal that you may be about to have a heart attack and should see a doctor as soon as possible.

Here are some other signs that you are experiencing unstable angina:

• Feeling pain or discomfort when you are resting, sleeping and not physically exerting yourself
• Pain comes as a surprise, when you are not expecting it
• Symptoms last longer than those of stable angina
• Resting does not help improve symptoms
• Angina worsens over time
• Heart attack

3. Prinzmetal's angina

Prinzmetal's angina, also known as variant angina, Prinzmetal's variant angina, and angina inversa, is the rarest type of angina and only affects approximately two pecent of angina cases. People develop Prinzmetal’s angina when they are resting, typically over the hours between midnight and morning. Patients find that attacks associated with Prinzmetal’s angina are quite painful. Interestingly, people who develop Prinzmetal’s angina tend to be younger.

Reasons why blood vessels can spasm include:

• Being exposed to cold weather
• Being stressed
• Using medicine
• Smoking
• Using cocaine

Symptoms of Prinzmetal’s angina include:

• Pain or discomfort develops at night or in the early morning
• Quite severe pain
• Pain is relieved by taking medicine, such as calcium antagonists and nitrates.

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