Angina is a condition caused by insufficient blood flow to the muscles of your heart. This disease leads to chest pains and other lethal complications. Any spasms or obstructions of the arteries supplying blood to your heart can cause anginal pains. You may also suffer from angina if you have other conditions such as heart failure, anemia, or abnormal heart rhythms. However, the primary way your coronary artery gets obstructed is through atherosclerosis that is a part of coronary artery disease. This disease is dangerous, but you can seek treatment options depending on cause severity of the symptoms. This article explores some available angina treatment options for patients.
Medications That Widen Blood Vessels
Doctors recommend certain drugs that help widen the narrowed blood vessels. One perfect example of such medications is medications containing nitrates. Nitrates treat your heart vessels by relaxing and enlarging them. Doctors recommend nitrate when they have substantial proof that angina is the primary cause of your chest discomfort. However, nitrate intake also helps prevent angina. The most common type of nitrate medication is nitroglycerin tablets kept under the tongue. Therefore, you should consult with your doctor to determine if nitrate treatment is the appropriate treatment path for your anginal pains.
Other drugs that work in the exact mechanism as nitrates are calcium channel blockers. These antagonists relax and widen your blood vessels by influencing the muscle cells in your arteries walls. Calcium channel blockers thereby increase blood flow to your heart and prevent angina.
Clot-Preventing Drugs
Your doctor can recommend different medications that help reduce coagulation of your blood. Blood with no clots quickly passes through blood vessels, especially in the heart, where the vessels are narrow. For example, you can use aspirin to reduce the ability of your blood to clot. Aspirin ensures that your blood flows through the narrowed blood vessels, but you should not start aspirin therapy without consulting your doctor. Other clot-preventing drugs include clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor. These drugs prevent the platelets from sticking together. Most of the clot-preventing medicines are essential for patients who cannot take aspirin due to medical reasons.
Medications That Lower Your Blood Pressure
Doctors often recommend medications to lower your blood pressure when you have diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, and other conditions related to angina. The two main types of drugs recommended for this purpose include angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers. The doctor may also recommend beta-blockers that block the effects of epinephrine. Epinephrine is responsible for fast heartbeats and increased pressure on arteries. Therefore, beta-blockers help your vessels relax and improve the flow of blood to your heart.
Medical Procedures
Medications can manage and cure angina, but the doctor may also recommend angioplasty or coronary artery bypass. Angioplasty involves inserting a tiny balloon in the artery and inflating it to widen the vessel. Doctors insert a stent (mesh coil) that keeps the artery open. This procedure improves blood flow to your heart and can reduce or cure angina. Alternatively, your doctor can conduct a coronary artery bypass whereby they use a vein or artery from another part of your body to bypass the narrowed or blocked artery in the heart. This option is appropriate for unstable angina or angina that does not respond to other treatment methods.
You can treat and manage angina by taking medications that widen your vessels, prevent blood clotting or lower your blood pressure. Alternatively, the doctor can recommend medical procedures such as angioplasty or coronary artery bypass.
Share20 September 2021
One day I was playing a game of basketball with a friend, and the friend I was playing ball with tripped and took a hard fall to the ground. He hit his head hard, but he insisted he was okay and just wanted to go home and take a nap. I knew in my heart that he was not thinking clearly, and I didn't feel right letting him go home. I talked him into letting me take him to the hospital, and after some tests, it was determined he had a bad concussion. The doctors told me that if I had let him go home and sleep, things could have taken a turn for the worse. I created this blog to remind everyone to look out for each other after injuries. Not everyone thinks clearly after a head injury, and just being a good friend could save a life.