Angina: Symptoms and Tests
Angina: Symptoms and TestsTranscriptWhen your heart isn’t getting enough oxygen, you may experience chest pain ordiscomfort called angina pectoris. Recognizing the symptoms of angina can help youget the treatments and tests you need to manage your pain and continue enjoyingyour life.Men and women may experience angina symptoms differently. But for both, it oftenstarts as an aching, tightening or squeezing discomfort in the chest that may spreadto the neck, jaw, arms or back. Other symptoms of angina can include sweating,shortness of breath, fatigue, indigestion, and nausea.To determine that angina is causing your chest discomfort, your doctor will usuallyrecommend a complete physical exam, blood tests and other special tests. These mayinclude: a resting electrocardiogram or ECG, which provides basic information aboutyour heart; a stress test, which usually involves an exercise ECG with or without anuclear agent, and shows how your heart reacts to the demand for more oxygen; anechocardiogram, or Echo, which takes moving pictures of your heart to determineareas of your heart that may be weak from reduced blood flow; and coronaryangiography, also called an angiogram or heart catheterization, which allows yourdoctor to take x-rays of your arteries in order to find out if there are places where anartery has narrowed.To do this, a long, thin tube called a catheter is inserted into your arm or leg, andguided to your heart. Then a contrast material or dye is injected. Using an x-raycamera, the doctor can follow the dye as it moves through the coronary artery system,and see where an artery has become narrowed, how much it has narrowed, and ifthere is any damage to the heart.Once your doctor is sure that angina is the cause of symptoms, he will recommend atreatment plan. This plan may focus on relieving angina symptoms and slowing theprogression of coronary artery disease. Follow your treatment plan for better heartand overall health in the future.20% gradient meshhealthclipshealthclipshealthclipshealthclips4% gradient meshThis program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, orsuitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.hc_ha_10217_98_en_t00002.pdf © Milner-Fenwick, Inc.healthclips5% gradient mesh
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