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Angina By addressing angina quickly, you can save your heart muscles and limit the damage to your heart.  Angina is often caused by blocked coronary (heart) arteries due to atherosclerosis. Angina can occur while exercising, digesting a large meal, or smoking a cigarette. It can also be caused by rising blood pressure, exposure to cold, formation of a clot in a coronary artery, or by severe emotion. * Talk to your doctor about getting a prescription for nitroglycerin and other medicines to help protect your heart. |  When blood flow to the heart is decreased which causes a temporary lack of oxygen to the heart muscle, angina can happen. Angina is a cardiac symptom described as: A pain, discomfort, tightness, pressure, heaviness in the chest.
Radiating pain from chest to shoulders, neck, jaw, arms, or back.
A sense of unusual shortness of breath and/or fatigue.
A profuse cold, clammy sweat on the upper body.
Heartburn, nausea, or vomiting.
A lightheaded or weak feeling.
Pale or gray skin color.
Anxiety or a feeling of doom.
* Consult your doctor prior to starting your exercise. Ask your doctor if you qualify for cardiac rehab.
| Angina symptoms can vary widely: The severity of pain and the area of pain is not a good measure of the severity of the heart problem. For some people, it only feels like chest pressure, shortness of breath, or like indigestion. The pain and pressure may come and go especially in women. Sometimes angina is accompanied by lightheadedness and/or feeling of nausea. Angina symptoms will generally persist until the activity is stopped or the nitroglycerin is taken. If the heart muscles are not getting enough oxygen for a while or the blood is completely blocked, Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) can happen.
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