Monday, November 7, 2011

What is unstable angina?

By Robert K. James


Angina pectoris simply means chest pain and this is usually due to ischemia. This means that the heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen from the blood because of some kind of blockage like plaque formation or spasm of the coronary artery. This term is derived from the Greek word ankhone which means strangling and from the Latin term pectus which means the chest. Technically speaking, angina pectoris means the strangling of the chest.

There are three types of angina pectoris but in this article, we will be discussing more on unstable angina. Unstable angina is an irregular kind of chest pain because it changes or worsens as the pain progresses. It has three defining features: it occurs even at rest, severe and gradually increases when left untreated. For many medical professionals, an unstable angina is very dangerous and needs emergency intervention because this can surely lead to a full-blown heart attack.

Why is it named "unstable"? Unstable angina symptoms have no expected pattern and occur for no exact reason. Moreover, the symptoms keeps on going compared to the stable form and nitroglycerin usually is unable to ease the pain. Furthermore, it is called unstable because once the plaque becomes ruptured, further blockage happens because of a clot will be formed. Hence, there is an exacerbation of the symptoms and sometimes there is little time to do any immediate action to save life.

As mentioned before, unstable angina symptoms are defined into three: pain occurs even at rest or with minimal exertion at lasts more than 20 minutes; it is severe frank pain and is within and this means that there is a new onset within a month; and lastly, it follows a crescendo pattern which means that the frequency and length is more prolonged compared to the older episode.

What is the unstable angina treatment? There are two ways to treat an unstable angina. The first one is to treat the condition head-on with drugs until the patient becomes stable and then assessed for non-invasive interventions. The second approach is to use drugs aggressively until the patients stabilizes and is then evaluated for possible invasive modalities like angioplasty.

However the best unstable angina treatment is prevention. The primary means for prevention for unstable angina would include weight control and maintenance, limiting alcohol intake, avoid tobacco consumption and regular exercise. These preventive measures are not only for unstable angina but also good measures in preventing other diseases like cancer.




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