Angina Pectoris Essay, Research Paper

In today’s society, people are gaining medical knowledge at quite a fast pace.

Treatments, cures, and vaccines for various diseases and disorders are being developed

constantly, and yet coronary heart disease remains the number one killer in the world. The

media today concentrates intensely on drug and alcohol abuse, homicides, AIDS and so

on. What a lot of people are not realizing is that coronary heart disease actually accounts

for about 80% of all sudden deaths. In fact, the number of deaths from heart disease is

approximately equal to the number of deaths from cancer, automobile accidents, chronic

lung disease, pneumonia and influenza, and others, COMBINED. One of the symptoms of

coronary heart disease is angina pectoris. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not take it

seriously, and thus not realizing that it may lead to other complications, and even death.

In order to understand angina, one must know about our own heart. The human

heart is a powerful muscle in the body which is worked twice as hard as any other muscle

in the body. A double pump system, the heart consists of two pumps side by side, which

pump blood to all parts of the body. Its steady beating maintains the flow of blood through

the body day and night, year after year, non-stop from birth until death. The heart is a

hollow, muscular organ slightly bigger than a person’s clenched fist. It is located in the

centre of the chest,under the breastbone, but it is slanted slightly to the left, giving people

the impression that their heart is on the left side of their chest. The heart is divided into

two halves, which are then further divided into four chambers: the left atrium and

ventricle, and the right atrium and ventricle. Each chamber on one side is separated from

the other by a valve, and it is the closure of these valves that produce the “lubb-dubb”

sound so familiar to us. Like any of the other organs in our body, the heart needs a

constant supply of blood and oxygen, and coronary arteries supply them. There are two

main coronary arteries, the left coronary artery, and the right coronary artery. They branch

off of the main artery of the body, the aorta. The right coronary artery circles the right side

and goes to the back of the heart. The left coronary artery further divides into the left

circumflex and the left anterior descending artery. These two left arteries feed the front

and the left side of the heart. The division of the left coronary artery is the reason why

doctors usually refer to three main coronary arteries.

There are three main symptoms of coronary heart disease: heart attack, sudden

death, and angina. Heart attack occurs when a blood clot is suddenly formed and it

completely blocks a diseased coronary artery, resulting in the death of the heart muscle

cells supplied by that artery. Coronary and Coronary Thrombosis2 are terms that can

refer to a heart attack. Another term, Acute myocardial infraction2, means death of the

heart muscle due to an inadequate blood supply. When sudden death occurs, it can be

attributed to cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest could possibly be the first symptom of

coronary artery disease, and may occur without any symptoms or warning signs. Other

causes of sudden deaths include drowning, suffocation, electrocution, drug overdose,

trauma (such as in automobile accidents), and stroke. Drowning, suffocation, and drug

overdose usually cause respiratory arrest, which in turn causes cardiac arrest. Trauma

may cause sudden death by severe injury to the heart or brain, or by severe blood loss.

Stroke causes damage to the brain, which can cause respiratory arrest and/or cardiac

arrest. People with coronary artery disease, whether or not they have had a heart attack,

may experience intermittent chest pain, pressure, or discomfort. This situation is known

as angina pectoris. It occurs when the narrowing of the coronary arteries temporarily

prevents an adequate supply of blood and oxygen from meeting the demands of working

heart muscles. Angina Pectoris (from angina, meaning strangling, and pectoris, meaning

breast) is commonly known simply as angina and means pain in the chest. The term

“angina” was first used during a lecture in 1768 by Dr. William Heberden. The word was

not intended to indicate “pain,” but rather “strangling,” with a secondary sensation of fear.

Victims suffering from angina may experience pressure,discomfort, or a squeezing

sensation in the centre of the chest behind the breastbone. The pain may radiate to the

arms, the neck, even the upper back, and the pain may come and go. It occurs when the

heart is not receiving enough oxygen to meet an increased demand for it. Angina, as

mentioned before, is only temporary, and it does not cause any permanent damage to the

heart muscle. The underlying coronary heart disease, however, continues to progress

unless action is taken to prevent it from becoming worse. Angina can be so severe that a

person may feel frightened,or so mild that it might be ignored. Angina attacks are usually

short, from one or two minutes to a maximum of about four to five. It usually goes away

with rest, within a couple of minutes,or ten minutes at the most. There are several known

forms of angina. Brief pain that comes on when you exert yourself and leaves fairly

quickly when you rest is known as stable angina. When angina pain occurs during rest, it is

called unstable angina. The symptoms are usually severe and the coronary arteries are

extremely narrowed. If a person suffers from unstable angina, there is a higher risk for that

person to experience heart attacks. The pain may come up to 20 times a day, and it is

strong enough to wake a person up, especially after a disturbing dream. Another type of

angina is called atypical, or variant angina.In this type of angina, pain occurs only when a

person is resting or asleep rather than from exertion. It is thought to be the result of

coronary artery spasm, a cramp that narrows the arteries.

With all the government funding available for research, it should be easy to get a

grant to study angina pectoris. However, it is not as easy as it should be. Many

government officials would rather grant money to a cause that has more sympathy in the

public?s eye, such as researching the effects of tobacco. The government should stop

worrying about its public relations front and research the number one killer in America

with more enthusiasm.

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