The word angina has its origins in the Latin language; it means strangulation or narrowness; in other words, something that presses, that is too tight. As you may guess or you may have experience, this type of chest pain is nothing to be taken lightly as it can be fatal. The term angina generally refers to the tightening sensation, which for some is painful, experienced in the body. There are several sub classes of angina and it depends on the location of the tightening or discomfort. Angina is a chest pain caused by a brief and insufficient flow of blood to an area of the heart. The pain feels as if something were squeezing or putting pressure inside our chest causing a sensation of having a heavy weight on top of us. A common symptom of heart disease, angina occurs when some part of the heart does not receive enough blood because the vessels that feed it called the coronary arteries are blocked. In other words, your heart is not getting the oxygen it needs. Commonly, you will feel a squeezing sensation in the center of your chest, perhaps radiating to your shoulder, up to your neck, and down to your arm. Angina pain might recede once you rest.

Symptoms of angina are hard to distinguish from normal chest pain like heartburn but there are certain signs that tell you that are having an angina attack. Different people would describe angina differently. Most would say that it is not very painful but just a big discomfort. Basically angina is just a symptom of a heart condition known as myocardial ischemia. It comes from the tightening, narrowing or blocking of the blood vessels specifically the arteries providing oxygenated blood to the heart. Angina is common. It affects about 1 in 50 people and there are estimated to be 1.2 million people with angina in the UK. It is more common in men than women and the likelihood of it occurring increases with age. Angina also can occur in people with valvular heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (this is an enlarged heart due to disease) or uncontrolled high blood pressure.

In most cases, the cause of angina is atherosclerosis, a build-up of fat as well as a loss of elasticity of the coronary arteries, the ones wrapping the heart which function is to carry oxygen and nutrients to the heart. The best way to prevent angina, also known as chest pain, is to prevent or to reduce atherosclerosis, the main responsible for angina pain. As you know, atherosclerosis is the accumulation of fat in the arteries. This fat, with time, clogs the coronary arteries, the ones wrapping the heart, thus reducing the amount of blood the heart needs to work properly. Food therapy also helps. For extreme cases, a low fat vegetarian diet may just save your life. Eating salads with dark green leaves such as spinach, kale, mustard greens and turnip greens are advised. Also stay away from too much dressing. Eliminating or minimizing risk factors of coronary artery disease by treating high blood pressure, lowering high cholesterol levels, quitting smoking, exercise and weight loss if needed.