What Angina Could Mean About Your Heart Health

The pain of angina is sending you a message—your heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen-rich blood. Angina occurs when the flow of blood through your coronary arteries to your heart muscle is less than your heart needs. Your doctor might refer to this as coronary artery disease or atherosclerosis. If you have angina, it probably means you have a long-term heart problem.

Angina and Coronary Artery Disease

Angina usually means you have a buildup of a waxy substance — or plaque — inside a coronary artery. Plaque takes many years to form. Having angina means the plaque has gotten large enough that it is limiting how much blood can flow to your heart muscle. This creates a supply-and-demand problem. When your heart needs to beat harder or faster, it can’t get enough oxygen. The demand for oxygen causes chest pain. This type of angina is called stable angina.

Angina also could mean a plaque in your coronary artery has broken open. A clot will then form over the break, causing a sudden narrowing of the artery. The clot might also block blood flow completely. This type of angina is unstable angina and it could mean you are in immediate danger of a heart attack.

Another form of angina could mean coronary artery disease is damaging the tiny blood vessels that branch off your coronary arteries. This is microvascular angina. This type is more common in women. Or angina could mean you have a type of coronary artery disease that causes the coronary arteries to go into spasms. This type is variant angina.

Angina and Heart Health Risk

There is no cure for coronary artery disease. Angina that keeps coming back or getting worse could signal the following heart health risks:

Blood flow could become completely blocked. This causes a heart attack, which could result in permanent heart damage.
Your heart could get weaker over time. If your heart becomes too weak to pump out blood to your body, this could lead to heart failure.
You could develop an abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia.
With coronary artery disease, you are at higher risk for cardiac arrest—when the heart stops beating

Angina and Changes for Heart Health

Having angina may mean you need to make some important changes to prevent coronary artery disease from getting worse. Making these changes should help reduce your risk for a heart attack and other heart problems. Your doctor may suggest the following:

Avoiding stress
Following a heart-healthy diet
Getting a safe and regular amount of exercise
Keeping your weight at a healthy level
Not smoking
Working with your doctor to find the best treatment for your angina
Working with your doctor to control problems that contribute to coronary heart disease like high cholesterol, high blood sugar, or high blood pressure

Angina and Heart Attack

If you have angina, you are at risk of having a heart attack. So, you need to know the symptoms of a heart attack and what to do about them. Symptoms of a heart attack include: