Because of the reduced size of the blood vessels, it's likely you will be advised to start a combination of medication and lifestyle changes rather than offered a stent or heart bypass surgery. Women seem to be more likely than men to experience microvascular angina. The reasons for this have not yet been confirmed. Angina is a symptom of coronary artery disease or atherosclerosis. This is a process that is accelerated by a number of factors including unhealthy lifestyle choices such as smoking, poor diet, being overweight, physical inactivity and poor mental health and wellbeing.
Making changes to your risk factors can slow or stop the damage to your arteries and lower your risk of having another heart attack. Browse angina stories.
Real stories, healthy recipes and frequently-asked questions from people with heart disease, plus a whole lot more. Edit this entry. Wellbeing What is my BMI? Take one puff of your GTN spray. Step 2: Wait five minutes If you still have symptoms after five minutes, take one more puff of your GTN spray. Step 3: Wait another five minutes If you still have symptoms after another five minutes, treat it as a heart attack. Dial and ask for an ambulance. Chew an aspirin if advised by a paramedic. If your symptoms go away, you can carry on with your activities gently.
Print this page. Heart conditions Angina Aortic aneurysm Aortic dissection Arrhythmia irregular heartbeats Atrial fibrillation Cardiac arrest Cardiomyopathy Coronary artery disease What is a heart attack? Heart failure What is a heart murmur? Heart valve disease Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Infective endocarditis Rheumatic fever and heart disease Spontaneous coronary artery dissection SCAD Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
In addition to chest pain and overwhelming feelings of anxiety, these attacks can cause symptoms such as heart palpitations , sweating, breathlessness and dizziness. Most panic attacks last for 5 to 20 minutes. In the long-term, you may benefit from psychological therapy and medication, or both. If you have sharp chest pain that gets worse when you breathe in and out, and is accompanied by other symptoms such as a cough and breathlessness, it may be caused by a condition affecting the lungs or surrounding tissue, such as:.
Mild cases of pneumonia can usually be treated with antibiotics , rest and fluids. For people with other health conditions, the condition can be severe and they may need to be treated in hospital. Treatment for pleurisy will depend on the underlying cause. Pleurisy caused by a viral infection will often resolve without needing treatment, whereas pleurisy caused by a bacterial infection will usually need to be treated with antibiotics.
Again, people who are frail or already in poor health may need to be admitted to hospital for treatment. Some of these conditions can be very serious. Make sure you seek medical advice so you can be correctly diagnosed and treated. Home Illnesses and conditions Heart and blood vessels Conditions Chest pain. Chest pain. When to get help for chest pain You should call for an ambulance immediately if you develop sudden severe chest pain, particularly if: the pain feels heavy, pressing or tight the pain lasts longer than 15 minutes the pain spreads to other parts of your body, such as your arms, back or jaw you also have other symptoms, such as breathlessness , nausea, sweating, or coughing up blood you are at risk of coronary heart disease — for example, you smoke, are obese , or have high blood pressure , diabetes or high cholesterol If the discomfort is only minor or has resolved, it may be more appropriate to either: speak to your GP call the service Could it be a heart problem?
Chest pain isn't always caused by a problem with your heart, but it can sometimes be a symptom of: angina — where the blood supply to the muscles of the heart is restricted a heart attack — where the blood supply to part of the heart is suddenly blocked Both of these conditions can cause a dull, heavy or tight pain in the chest that can spread to the arms, neck, jaw or back. Common causes of chest pain Most chest pain is not heart-related and isn't a sign of a life-threatening problem.
Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease GORD Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease is a common condition where acid from the stomach comes up into the oesophagus gullet. Common symptoms of GORD include: burning chest pain heartburn an unpleasant taste in the mouth caused by stomach acid coming back up into your mouth These symptoms usually occur soon after you've eaten and get worse if you bend over or lie down.
You may have one of the following non-heart related causes of chest pain: Lung and Breathing Problems Pulmonary Embolism PE : If you have trouble breathing, call It could be a heart attack or other type of medical emergency, such as a blood clot in the lung, which is called a pulmonary embolism PE.
The chest pain from PE usually comes on suddenly with difficulty breathing, especially when you take a deep breath. You are at greater risk for PE if you have had surgery in the past three months, a blood clotting disorder, or cancer, or if you take oral contraceptives. PE is a life-threatening situation. The clot must be dissolved by medication to allow the heart and lungs to work properly. Pulmonary Hypertension: Increased blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs, called pulmonary hypertension , can also cause chest pain and difficulty breathing, especially if you are exerting yourself.
Other symptoms include feeling very tired and fainting. Pneumonia is an infection in the lungs that can cause chest pain. Other symptoms of pneumonia include fever, difficulty breathing and a cough that brings up phlegm. Pneumothorax is a lung problem that occurs when air gets trapped in between the lung and the chest wall, causing the lung to compress and making it difficult to breathe.
In some cases, the pressure is so great it can cause a lung to collapse and even push the lungs, heart, and major vessels to the opposite side of the chest.
This condition usually causes immediate chest pain and difficulty breathing. The pressure must be relieved immediately by a needle or tube through the chest wall. Just like air, fluid can press on the lungs making it difficult to breathe and causing some chest pain.
Pleurisy also called pleuritis is the inflammation of the lung covering. The pleura is composed of two layers, one surrounding the lungs and one lining the inside of the chest wall. In between these two layers is a small amount of fluid that prevents friction between the two layers when you breathe.
If the pleura becomes inflamed, usually from infection, then the friction between the two layers will cause chest pain when you breathe. Lung cancer is a rare but often deadly cause of chest pain. Symptoms can include a cough, difficulty breathing, weight loss, coughing up blood and chest pain. If the chest pain is severe or does not go away, it may mean the cancer has spread to the chest wall. Musculoskeletal Problems That Can Cause Chest Pain The vast majority of chest pain seen by doctors is actually related to muscles, bones, or joints rather than the heart or lungs.
Injury to these muscles can also cause sharp chest pain. Costochondritis , a condition where the cartilage between the ribs becomes inflamed, is another common cause of chest pain. Other sources of musculoskeletal chest pain may be due to broken ribs, cancer in the chest wall, sickle cell anemia, or infections, such as osteomyelitis or septic arthritis.
Rheumatic diseases , such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or fibromyalgia can affect joints in the chest area and cause chest pain.
Digestive Problems That Can Cause Chest Pain The heart and the esophagus the tube between the mouth and stomach share some of the same nerves.
Gastro-esophageal reflux disease GERD , often simply referred to as heartburn, can give you chest pain. The esophagus and the stomach are connected by the lower esophageal sphincter LES that closes to prevent stomach contents from backing up into the esophagus. In GERD, the sphincter leaks and allows acids from the stomach to escape up into the esophagus and damage it.
Symptoms of GERD are very similar to heart attack symptoms, so if you are not sure, call GERD can cause squeezing, burning pain, often located in the center of the chest that sometimes radiates to the back, neck, jaw or arms. It can last minutes to hours. Many times younger people having their first episode of angina or heart attack do not think that their chest discomfort is coming from their heart.
They do not see themselves as being at risk yet. Do not assume that these symptoms are due to your stomach. Unlike a heart attack, GERD may resolve on its own or with antacids.
Symptoms from GERD tend to occur after meals, worsen with stress, and wake you up from sleep. GERD can also cause stomach pain, regurgitation, and an acid taste in mouth. Other problems affecting the esophagus can also cause chest pain. These problems include spasms, ruptures caused by vomiting, ulcers, chemicals, or medical instruments , and foods or small objects getting stuck in the esophagus.
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