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Heart
attack and Angina
Angina is a chest pain
caused by a sudden decrease in the supply of blood to the heart.
The blood insufficiency is called ischemia. This reduction is the
result of restricted blood flow caused by the deposition of
cholesterol which leads to atherosclerosis partially blocking the
coronary arteries. If the blood supply to the heart muscles is
completely halted, death might occur due to the lack of oxygen and
hence cells death.
Coronary arteries with
constriction of up to 75%, can still be able to supply enough
oxygen to the heart, provided that the person is at complete rest.
However, if he or she perform any physical activities or was under
mental stress, the heart beat will increase to 200 beat per
minute, where heart will be in danger. Besides, a high Blood
pressure might also be encountered, which will be another source
of heart stress. Any oxygen deficiency to a heart muscle will
cause a pain of Angina nature. This pain might cease as soon as
the cause of the stress stops, and the blood flow is back to
normal. For example a stair climb might cause Angina pain, which
goes after a brief rest at the top of the stairs within a few
minutes.
Activities
that may causes Angina pain:
- Walking up hill
- Walking against wind
- Running (e.g. to catch a bus)
- Quick walk after a heavy meal
- Emotional distress, like
listening to good news or an argument or rage
- Extremely good news, like
winning the Lottery or any other excitement
Heart attack is the
result of a complete blockage of a coronory artery. This will
result in the death of heart cells at the blood-receiving end of
the artery. In most cases a heart attack is caused by a blood clot
forming on a plaque.
Pain
location:
The location of the
chest pain in a heart attack is similar to that of angina. It is
usually in the upper part of the chest over the breastbone. It
usually covers an area the size of a fist. The pain usually does
not stay in the same area and moves or radiate towards the throat,
jaw, arms, and hands. However the pain might start in the arm
before a person feels it in the chest area.
Pain
nature:
It is difficult for a
person to describe the pain accompanying an Angina or heart
attack.Some describe the pain as if a knife is cutting into his
chest, while others describe it as a very heavy weight applied on
the chest, while still others say it is like a feeling of stress
or like a heart burn.
Pain
duration:
As for the duration of
the pain, the Heart attack is of a longer duration than that of an
Angina. Angina pain lasts only for several minuets, and disappears
after rest. While heart attack lasts for much longer and may
result in damaging the heart muscles.
Heart attack may be accompanied by nausea, lack of breath and
indigestion.
Factors
leading to heart diseases:
- Men are more likely to encounter
heart diseases than women.
- Age
- Hereditary factor
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol diet
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Lack of exercise
Treatment
- Medication
- Baloon dilation (Angioplasty).
- Stent dilatation
- Bipass operations
- Laser treatment
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High
Cholesterol in young men linked to Heart Attack risk
By TIM ADAMS, UPI Science News
CHICAGO July 18 (UPI) -- When the excesses of youth lead to high
cholesterol in men under 40, the chance of dying from heart disease more
than triples, according to researchers.
The study, which appears in this week's Journal of the American Medical
Association, provides the first definitive link between high cholesterol
in
young men and an increased risk of heart attack.
Over 81,000 men aged 18 to 40 were tracked by scientists for as many as
34
years, their cholesterol levels recorded and then matched with their
causes
of death.
After crunching the numbers, scientists found that the men with
cholesterol levels under 240 lived between 3.8 and 8.7 years longer than
those with higher levels.
Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, the principal author of the work, told UPI,
"The
most important part of the study is the demonstration for the first
time,
unequivocally, massively, repetitively, reproducibly, of a strong
relationship of serum cholesterol to risk of long term mortality for
younger
men."
Stamler, professor emeritus at the department of preventative medicine,
Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Ill., added that, to
him,
the most important point made by the study was the necessity of
prevention.
Stamler says, "Better lifestyle, particularly better eating habits
from
conception and weaning on" is the "primary" way of
reducing the risk of an
early death.
Stamler's team broke down statistics from three separate long-term
medical
studies in their quest to conclusively tie cholesterol in young men to
the
death knell of cardiovascular disease.
The first of the three groups, containing 1,266 men aged 25 to 39, was
tested for cholesterol from 1959 to 1963 by their employers, the
People's
Gas Company in Chicago, and tracked for 34 years.
The second group, made up of 11,017 men aged 18 to 39, was screened by
the
Chicago Heart Association from 1967 to 1973 and followed for 25 years.
The third and largest group, numbering 69,205 men aged 35 to 39, was
tested from 1973 to 1975 across 18 cities by the Multiple Risk Factor
Intervention Trial, a study conducted by the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood
Institute in Bethesda, Md. Members of this group were tracked for 16
years.
Stamler's team examined the three trials, and came to a single
conclusion.
The men who tipped the cholesterol scales at 240 or higher were 2.2 to
3.6
times as likely to die from coronary heart disease, and 2.10 to 2.87
times
as likely to fall victim to other cardiovascular diseases.
Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra, a cardiologist in Manchester, Conn., told UPI,
"The young man on the street, A: needs to know his cholesterol
level and B:
if it's greater than 240 needs to improve his lifestyle."
Sinatra, who also wrote a nutritional manual called Heart Sense for
Women,
added, "I think a study like this will wake people up and make them
take
more responsibility for themselves, with at least a healthier diet to
start,
and certainly exercise as well."
Dr. Edward Winslow, associate professor of clinical medicine and
cardiology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Ill.,
told
UPI that this kind of lifestyle change is "easy to say, harder to
do."
"We eat too much in this country, and we eat too much of foods that
are
heavy in fat and empty calories," Winslow says.
"If your cholesterol level is elevated, then you really need to be
very
careful about what you eat and what you do," added Winslow.
The study was funded by the American Heart Association in Dallas, Texas,
and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
--
Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
--
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