Angina at rest is called angina attacks that occur when a person is at rest and not during exercise or high stress, as happens in stable angina
Stable angina - one of the manifestations of coronary heart disease
.
To make it easier to explain what happens during an attack of angina at rest, we must remember how our heart. As you know, the heart - an organ the size of a fist, located in the middle of the chest, the operation of which is not dependent on conscious human control. At rest, a person does not feel the beating of his heart, although it may feel your pulse by touching certain parts of the body.
The heart is a kind of pump: with each blow, it pushes the arteries defined volumes of blood, and it is at odds throughout the body. The blood carries the body cells of oxygen and nutrients, without which they would be unable to function properly and sooner or later, would have perished. The very heart for normal operation also need oxygen and other substances - it gets them through the coronary arteries, which are specially designed to supply blood to the heart.
Angina in most cases are due to coronary heart disease - a condition in which blood flow to the coronary arteries or interrupts. The reason for this is usually atherosclerosis - a disorder that leads to the formation of fatty plaques on the walls of blood vessels.
Over time, these blood vessel wall becomes more rigid, and their lumen narrows. During an attack of angina at rest fatty plaque in a coronary artery ruptures, this leads to the formation of a blood clot that partially blocked artery. As a result, the heart does not receive enough oxygen, and it causes more or less severe pain in the chest
Chest pain is one symptom - a lot of diseases
. Sometimes a blood clot increases and completely blocks blood flow in the arteries - a condition called heart attack or a heart attack, which can lead to irreversible damage to the heart muscle tissue.
Symptoms of angina at rest
During an attack of angina at rest, patients feel severe pain in the chest; the descriptions of some patients, it resembles a feeling that could arise if a person on the chest put a heavy object so that it seems, is about to be crushed chest. The pain may radiate to other parts of the body - arms, legs, back and jaw. In some patients during an attack there is pain in the abdomen, similar to the one that is indigestion. Other possible symptoms of angina at rest: a feeling of weakness or exhaustion, nausea, shortness of breath, headache, unusually heavy sweating.
In their angina symptoms and the rest are very similar, but they differ in that the beginning of the first type of attacks of angina is predictable: they will always appear at a certain level of physical activity or stress and rest angina may start at any moment. Since the patient can not independently determine he had a rest angina or myocardial infarction, when the signs of this disorder should immediately call an ambulance.
Causes
Many patients who have found rest angina, questioned why the disease developed just at them. Unfortunately, so far it is not clear why some patients form atherosclerotic plaques, which may one day lead to a stroke, while others, with a similar way of life, this is not happening. Even more complex and controversial question is why some people develop angina and others - rest angina. However, the specialists identify several factors that may increase the likelihood of developing this disorder:
- Male. Men rest angina occurs much more often than women;
- Middle and old age;
- Coronary failure and / or myocardial infarction in the family history;
- Smoking;
- Overweight or obese;
- Elevated cholesterol levels;
- High blood pressure;
- Diabetes.
Treatment of angina at rest
Angina at rest can be observed in unstable angina
Unstable angina - alarm organism
and angina Prinzmetal
Prinzmetal angina - a rare disease with serious consequences
. In the first case the symptoms persist after taking nitroglycerin, second cupping is enough of one to three tablets of the drug.
Patients who have had an attack of angina at rest, usually hospitalized, and do intravenous drugs from the class of nitrates, which include nitroglycerin. The method allows intravenous drug rapidly enter the bloodstream. In hospital nitrates small doses can be administered within 24 hours or even longer. These medicines may cause side effects such as headache, nausea, and redness of the face, but they usually are mild and quickly pass.
In the treatment of angina at rest also used beta-blockers, such as atenolol and metoprolol. They reduce the heart rate and the heart's need for oxygen is reduced. They are used for the relief of chest pain at rest (beta-blockers relieve pain in the chest), and to reduce the risk of repeated attacks and heart attack in the future. At the hospital, patients are usually injected with beta-blockers, and after leaving them taken in pill form.
To prevent the formation of new blood clots most often used aspirin. Numerous studies have shown that aspirin reduces greatly the probability of myocardial infarction in patients suffering from angina at rest.
In most cases, the patient is recommended to take from 75 mg to 325 mg of aspirin per day. If you are allergic to aspirin instead it is discharged clopidogrel - a drug that acts almost like aspirin. To prevent the formation of thrombi and can be used inhibitors of glycoprotein IIb / IIIa and heparin.
In addition, people have suffered one attack of angina at rest, can be assigned from the statin drugs - they lower blood cholesterol, and angiotensin converting enzyme - these drugs reduce blood pressure.
Prevention of angina at rest
Since the exact causes of angina at rest are unknown, so we can not say with certainty that certain measures can protect you from this disorder. However, the implementation of certain recommendations may somewhat reduce the risk of angina at rest or reduce the likelihood of new attacks.
- Smoking causes narrowing of the arteries, including the coronary arteries. For this reason, smokers should do everything possible to get rid of their bad habits. Even if you have more than once tried to quit, try again, and if you do not handle yourself, consult a doctor.
- If you are overweight, get rid of it - it greatly increases the likelihood of angina at rest and its new attacks and myocardial infarction.
- Limit consumption of alcohol or even abstain from alcohol. If you suspect that you have had problems with alcohol dependence, either on their own give up alcohol, or seek help from a specialist.
- If you have diabetes, be sure to take the necessary medicine and regularly pass inspection.
