Treatment FAQ

what is the treatment for acute angina

by Aimee Schuppe Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Nitrates are often used to treat angina. Nitrates relax and widen the blood vessels so more blood flows to the heart. The most common form of nitrate used to treat angina is nitroglycerin. The nitroglycerin pill is placed under the tongue.Mar 30, 2022

Medication

Treating Angina at Home

  1. Lifestyle changes. These are among the most crucial steps you can take in responding to your angina. ...
  2. Citrus. Vitamin C helps the body control its cholesterol levels and sufficient levels can slow the accumulation of arterial plaque.
  3. Onions. ...
  4. Turmeric. ...
  5. Meditate. ...
  6. Lower your sodium. ...
  7. Basil. ...

Procedures

Enhanced external counterpulsation, a treatment for chest pain, may ease symptoms of long COVID, a new study suggests. Photo by orzalaga /Pixabay Could a therapy used to treat chest pain ease the debilitating symptoms of long COVID?

Self-care

Treatments for angina pain

  • Stop smoking
  • Eat a healthy diet
  • Maintain healthy cholesterol levels
  • Lower your blood pressure
  • Be physically active, starting slow, work up to 150 minutes per week of moderately intensive physical activity
  • Maintain a healthy weight
  • If you have diabetes, keep it well controlled
  • Manage your stress

More items...

Nutrition

Symptoms of angina include:

  • pressure, aching, or burning in the middle of the chest
  • pressure, aching, or burning in the neck, jaw, and shoulders (usually the left shoulder) and even down the arm
  • a sense of anxiety or uneasiness

How to cure angina at home naturally?

What is angina and how is it treated?

How to relieve angina pain?

How to diagnose stable angina?

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What is the immediate treatment for angina?

The initial treatment consists of administration of oxygen, aspirin, nitroglycerin, morphine, and a beta-blocker. Given an altered, yet nondiagnostic ECG and no contraindications, further treatment with heparin (low-molecular weight or unfractionated), clopidogrel, or other antiplatelet agents may be initiated.

What antianginal drugs are used to treat an acute angina attack?

Antianginal Drugs The main drugs used for myocardial ischema therapy and for relieving pain in angina pectoris are nitrates and nitrites, such as nitroglycerin, isosorbide dinitrate, and pentaerythritol tetranitrate, which help in lowering systemic venous and arterial pressure.

Does walking help angina?

What type of exercise should I do? Aerobic exercises will provide the most benefits because they make your heart beat faster and you breathe more quickly. You could try walking, cycling or a living room workout at a level that suits you.

What foods to avoid if you have angina?

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. Eat fewer foods that contain cheese, cream, or eggs.

Why Are There Different Treatments For Each Type of Angina?

Angina is pain, discomfort or pressure in the chest, and doctors usually describe it as chronic stable angina or unstable angina. 1. Chronic stable...

What Are The Treatment Options For Chronic Stable Angina?

During an angioplasty (AN-jee-o-plas-tee), your doctor inserts a tiny balloon in your narrowed artery through a catheter that's placed in an artery...

So Which Angina Treatment Is Better — Angioplasty and Stenting Or medications?

Your medical condition will determine whether having angioplasty and stenting or taking medications will work better for you. Talk to your doctor a...

What If Your Angina Treatment Doesn't Work?

If you try medication and lifestyle changes first, but they don't relieve your angina, angioplasty and stenting may be another option. In some case...

What is the best medication for angina?

Medication also plays an important role in treatment. Several types of medication are to ease or prevent angina. These include: 1 nitrates 2 beta blockers 3 calcium-channel blockers 4 aspirin 5 statins 6 ACE inhibitors 7 ranolazine

How to reduce angina?

Exercise . Even though exercise can bring on angina, a supervised program of exercise can safely strengthen the heart and eventually reduce angina. Start slowly, and gradually build up your level of exercise during optimal times of the day. Your physician can tell you what you can and cannot do. Heart-healthy eating.

What tests can be used to diagnose angina?

Three tests can be used to confirm the diagnosis: electrocardiogram. exercise stress test. coronary angiogram. Electrocardiogram (ECG).

How to prevent angina from eating?

Heart-healthy eating. Adopting a Mediterranean or other heart-healthy eating strategy can help fight the cholesterol-filled plaque that is responsible for angina .

How long does angina pain last?

Angina attacks usually last a few minutes. If it has been triggered by exertion, it usually subsides within a few minutes as you rest. When such pain lasts more than 10 minutes, it could indicate a heart attack. If you have this type of pain and it lasts more than 10 minutes, call 9-1-1.

How to stop angina from a syringe?

Adjust your daily activities. If certain kinds of activity regularly cause angina, try performing the activity more slowly . Your heart is under more stress in the mornings and after meals, so try reducing physical activity at those times. Reduce stress and anger.

What are the symptoms of angina?

Symptoms of angina include: pressure, aching, or burning in the middle of the chest. pressure, aching, or burning in the neck, jaw, and shoulders (usually the left shoulder) and even down the arm.

What is the best treatment for angina?

There are many options for angina treatment, including lifestyle changes, medications, angioplasty and stenting, or coronary bypass surgery. The goals of treatment are to reduce the frequency and severity of your symptoms and to lower your risk of a heart attack and death.

How to prevent angina?

Because heart disease is often the cause of angina, you can reduce or prevent angina by working on reducing your heart disease risk factors. Making lifestyle changes is the most important step you can take.

What is ECP in angina?

It's a treatment option for both unstable angina as well as stable angina that has not responded to other treatments. External counterpulsation (ECP). With ECP, blood pressure-type cuffs are placed around the calves, thighs and pelvis to increase blood flow to the heart. ECP requires multiple treatment sessions.

Why is it important to take a rest break when you have angina?

Because angina is often brought on by exertion, it's helpful to pace yourself and take rest breaks.

What is the procedure to bypass a narrowed heart artery?

Coronary artery bypass surgery. During coronary artery bypass surgery, a vein or artery from somewhere else in your body is used to bypass a blocked or narrowed heart artery. Bypass surgery increases blood flow to your heart and reduces or eliminates angina.

How to diagnose angina?

Diagnosis. To diagnose angina, your doctor will start by doing a physical exam and asking about your symptoms. You'll also be asked about any risk factors, including whether you have a family history of heart disease. There are several tests your doctor may order to help confirm whether you have angina:

Is it better to have angina early or later?

If angina is found early , your treatment may be easier and more effective. Because appointments can be brief, and because there's often a lot to discuss, it's a good idea to be prepared for your appointment. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment and what to expect from your doctor.

Why do you need to take medicine for angina?

If you have unstable angina (where symptoms develop unpredictably), you'll need medicines to prevent blood clots and reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

What does it mean when you have angina?

Angina is a warning sign that you're at a higher risk of serious problems like heart attacks or strokes.

What is the warning sign of angina?

Medicines to prevent hearts attacks and strokes. Angina is a warning sign that you're at a higher risk of serious problems like heart attacks or strokes. You may also need to take extra medicines to reduce this risk. These include:

What is the best medicine for heart muscle pain?

If you cannot have either of these medicines, you may be given another medicine such as ivabradine, nicorandil or ranolazine.

When is a CABG recommended?

Surgery (either CABG or PCI) may be recommended if you have a high risk of having another angina attack, or you're at a high risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Page last reviewed: 22 April 2021. Next review due: 22 April 2024.

How long after taking GTN can you take another?

Use your GTN medicine. Take another dose after 5 minutes if the first one does not help. Call 999 for an ambulance if you still have symptoms 5 minutes after taking the second dose. You can also use GTN to avoid an attack before doing something like exercise.

What is the best medicine for angina?

Your doctor may first prescribe aspirin for your angina, to prevent and dissolve clots in your arteries. They may also prescribe another blood thinner, known as antiplatelet medications (such as Plavix or Effient). This also helps prevent and dissolve artery clogs.

What to do after angina diagnosis?

Typically your doctor will prescribe medication and lifestyle changes before they suggest surgery. However, if you have severe angina, you may need to undergo an angioplasty or stenting.

What to do if lifestyle changes and medication do not help your angina?

If lifestyle changes and medication do not help your angina, your doctor will order stenting or coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

How long does angina last?

Angina will usually subside after a few minutes once you start resting. However, if your pain lasts over 10 minutes, it could be a sign of a heart attack and you should seek immediate medical attention.

What are the different types of angina?

There are three types of angina you can be diagnosed with: 1 Stable angina – the most common type. It has a regular pattern and happens when your heart is working harder than usual. 2 Unstable angina – this is the most dangerous type. There is no pattern or obvious reason for its arrival. It could be a sign of an impending heart attack. 3 Variant angina – this is rare, and happens when you are resting.

What does it feel like to have angina?

Typical symptoms of angina include: Pressure, aching, or burning in the middle of your chest (feels like someone is sitting on your chest) Pressure, aching, or burning in your neck, jaw, or shoulders (typically on the left side) A feeling of uneasiness or anxiety. Angina symptoms typically appear when you’re doing physical activity, ...

What is the most common type of angina?

Stable angina – the most common type. It has a regular pattern and happens when your heart is working harder than usual.

What are the different types of angina?

There are many types of angina, including microvascular angina, Prinzmetal's angina, stable angina, unstable angina and variant angina. View an animation of angina. . This usually happens because one or more of the coronary arteries is narrowed or blocked, also called ischemia.

What tests are done for unstable angina?

If your doctor thinks that you have unstable angina or that your angina is related to a serious heart condition, they may recommend the following tests and procedures: EKG (Electrocardiogram) Stress Testing. Blood Tests. Chest X- Rays. Coronary Angiography and Cardiac Catheterization. Computed Tomography Angiography.

What to do if you have chest pain?

All chest pain should be checked out by a healthcare provider. If you have chest pain, your doctor will want to find out whether it's angina and if it is, whether the angina is stable or unstable. If it's unstable, you may need emergency medical treatment to try to prevent a heart attack.

What causes chest pain?

Other conditions also can cause chest pain, such as: Pulmonary embolism (a blockage in a lung artery) Aortic dissection (tearing of a major artery) A lung infection. Aortic stenosis (narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve) Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease)

What to do if your heart is unstable?

If it's unstable, you may need emergency medical treatment to try to prevent a heart attack. Your doctor will most likely perform a physical exam, ask about your symptoms, and ask about your risk factors for and your family history of heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions.

Is heart disease a risk factor for angina?

If you’re at risk for heart disease or coronary artery disease, you’re also at risk for angina. The major risk factors for heart disease and coronary artery disease include:

Is angina a disease?

The discomfort also can occur in your shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, or back. Angina pain may even feel like indigestion. But, angina is not a disease. It is a symptom of an underlying heart problem, usually coronary heart disease (CHD).

What are the lifestyle changes that can help with angina?

Therefore, risk factor modification should be the central component of management.11Suggested lifestyle changes include cessation of smoking, exercise and weight reduction, in addition to treatment of hypertension and glycaemic control in patients with diabetes. There are also numerous drugs available to improve prognosis by preventing MI and death.

What are the medications used for angina pectoris?

Three major classes of anti‐ischaemia drugs are currently used in the medical management of angina pectoris: β‐blockers, nitrates (short‐ and long‐acting), and calcium channel antagonists (table 1​1). All three have been shown to prolong the duration of exercise before the onset of angina and ST segment depression as well as to decrease the frequency of angina. However, none prevents MI or death caused by coronary disease in patients being treated specifically for chronic stable angina.

What is the mode of action of antianginal drugs?

The mode of action of most conventional antianginal agents involves haemodynamic changes, such as a reduction in systemic vascular resistance or coronary vasodilatation or negative inotropism, which improve the imbalance in myocardial oxygen supply and demand. Recently, new drugs based on novel mechanisms of action have emerged6(table 1​1).

Does CABG improve survival?

Revascularisation with CABG was found to improve survival compared to medical management in selected patients with stable angina: patients with left main or three‐vessel coronary disease ; patients with two‐vessel disease and significant lesions in the proximal left anterior descending artery; and patients with multivessel disease in the presence of left ventricular dysfunction or diabetes.

Is trimetazidine safe for angina?

In a Cochrane meta‐analysis of 23 studies including 1378 patients, trimetazidine was associated with a significant reduction in weekly angina episodes and improved exercise time to 1 mm ST segment depression compared to placebo.8In patients with stable angina who experienced concomitant erectile dysfunction, trimetazidine plus sildenafil was both safe and more effective in controlling episodes of ischaemia during sexual activity than nitrates alone. These data indicate that trimetazidine is safe and effective for the treatment of symptoms of stable angina, either as monotherapy or adjunctive treatment.

Is stable angina pectoris a disease?

Coronary artery disease is still highly prevalent worldwide, and stable angina pectoris is one of its more common presentations. Stable angina is a clinical expression of myocardial ischaemia associated with fixed atherosclerotic coronary stenosis, which prevents the adaptation of coronary perfusion to an increased oxygen requirement. The goals of treatment include relief of symptoms, inhibition or slowing of disease progression, prevention of future cardiac events such as myocardial infarction (MI), and improved survival. This article reviews the treatment modalities currently available to alleviate the symptoms of chronic angina and to reduce the risk of future MI and cardiac death, including several novel pharmacological treatments, coronary revascularisation, as well as novel technologies that may benefit selected groups of patients who are refractory to both drugs and revascularisation (fig 1​1).

Is aspirin safe for angina?

Most of the data, however, are derived from patients with acute coronary syndrome. Only one study reported a beneficial effect of aspirin in patients with chronic angina pectoris. Clopidogrel, a thienopyridine derivative, has been found to be more effective than aspirin in reducing cardiovascular events in patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease. However, a more recent study reported that clopidogrel combined with aspirin was not significantly more effective than aspirin alone in reducing the rate of MI, stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes in patients with stable cardiovascular disease or multiple cardiovascular risk factors.12Dipyridamole is often recommended as an adjunctive antiplatelet agent to aspirin in patients after a cerebrovascular event, but it can enhance exercise‐induced myocardial ischaemia in patients with stable angina.

What is the best medicine for angina?

You may also have shortness of breath, weakness, or fatigue. Nitroglycerin is the most common medicine prescribe for angina.

What to do if you have angina and it hurts?

Note the pattern of your symptoms—what causes the chest pain, what it feels like, how long it lasts, and whether medicine relieves the pain. If angina symptoms change sharply, or if they happen when you are resting or they start to occur unpredictably, call 911. You may be having a heart attack. Do not drive yourself to the emergency department. ...

Why does angina pectoris occur?

It can also occur because of unstable plaques, poor blood flow through a narrowed heart valve, a decreased pumping function of the heart muscle, as well as a coronary artery spasm. There are 2 other forms of angina pectoris. They are: Variant angina pectoris. (or Prinzmetal's angina) Microvascular angina. Is rare.

What is Variant Angina Pectoris?

Variant angina pectoris. (or Prinzmetal's angina) Microvascular angina. Is rare. Occurs almost only when you are at rest. Often doesn't follow a period of physical exertion or emotional stress. Can be very painful and usually occurs between midnight and 8 a.m. Is related to spasm of the artery.

Why is it important to treat angina?

It is important to work with your healthcare provider to treat your underlying coronary artery disease, which causes angina. You need to control your risk factors: high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, high blood cholesterol levels, lack of exercise, excess weight, and a diet high in saturated fat.

What is it called when your heart muscle does not get enough oxygen?

Angina pectoris occurs when your heart muscle (myocardium) does not get enough blood and oxygen for a given level of work. Insufficient blood supply is called ischemia.

What causes angina in the heart?

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.

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Diagnosis

Treatment

Clinical Trials

Lifestyle and Home Remedies

Medically reviewed by
Dr. Kabir Sethi
Your provider will work with you to develop a care plan that may include one or more of these treatment options.
Treatment depends on the severity and there are numerous options including lifestyle changes, drugs, angioplasty, and stenting, or coronary artery bypass surgery.
Medication

Nitrates: Nitrates enable more blood to stream into the heart muscle.

Nitroglycerin . Nitroprusside


Antiplatelet drugs: Medications that help to prevent blood clot formation.

Aspirin . Ticagrelor . Ticlopidine


Beta blockers: Medication that blocks the effect of epinephrine hormone. As a result, the heart beats slowly resulting in reduced blood pressure.

Acebutolol . Atenolol


Statins: Drugs used to bring down blood cholesterol.

Atorvastatin . Fluvastatin . Rosuvastatin . Metoprolol


Calcium channel blockers: Medication that widens the blood vessels and increases blood flow in the heart.

Amlodipine . Diltiazem . Felodipine

Procedures

Angioplasty and stent placement: A balloon is inserted and inflated to widen the narrowed artery.

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG): A vein or an artery from other parts of the body (usually taken from thigh, arm or mammary vein) is used to bypass a blocked or narrowed artery.

Self-care

Always talk to your provider before starting anything.

  • Mild to moderate exercises, like walking or aerobics for 20 - 30 mins every day.
  • If overweight, reduce weight.
  • Quit smoking.

Nutrition

Foods to eat:

  • Consume vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
  • Pick lean proteins, for example, skinless chicken, fish, and beans.
  • Choose skimmed milk and low fat yogurt.

Foods to avoid:

  • Reduce The intake of sodium.
  • Keep away from Food with saturated fats and hydrogenated fats.
  • Avoid foods that contain cheddar, cream, or eggs.

Specialist to consult

Cardiologist
Specializes in the diagnosis and management heart related disorders.

Preparing For Your Appointment

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