Angina

Angina is discomfort or pain that occurs when your heart is not getting enough oxygen and
nutrients.
Angina may be caused by a narrowing of the arteries or muscle spasms in the coronary
arteries. These spasms may be induced by cigarette smoke, cold temperatures, strong
emotions, and other sources.
It is important to note that angina isn't a heart attack and doesn't usually cause permanent
heart damage, even though it causes pain.
The causes of angina are generally atherosclerosis or coronary artery spasm. Angina is not
the same for everyone. While it usually occurs when the heart is working harder than normal,
such as after a meal or during physical or emotional stress, it can also occur when resting.
Traditionally, angina occurs primarily in the chest and radiates down the left arm. However, it
can be any discomfort that radiates in the chest, across the shoulders, in the upper back,
arms (both left and right), neck, throat, or jaw.

Symptoms of Angina
Aching
Burning
Cramping
Discomfort
Heaviness
Indigestion
Shortness of Breath
Sweating or Dizziness
Squeezing
Tightness

Stop your activity, sit or lie down, and relax.

Take a nitroglycerin (NT6) tablet or use NTG spray as prescribed by your physician.
Be sure to notify your physician if these symptoms increase in frequency or severity but
are not so severe that you feel the need to go to an emergency room.

If angina lasts longer than 15 minutes or worsens, call 911 or get to a hospital emergency
room immediately. Never drive yourself.
Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)
Part of the heart muscle can be damaged or die as a result blood flow is blocked.

Warning signs of a heart attack include:

Heavy feeling, pressure, or intense pain or squeezing in the chest that lasts for more
than a few minutes.
Lightheadedness or fainting
Nausea or vomiting
Pain that radiates to the shoulders, neck or arms.
Profuse Sweating
Rapid heartbeat
Shortness of breath
Severe weakness
Arrhythmia
Sometimes the hearts electrical system does not function normally. It may race, become
slow, irregular, skip beats or sometimes the hearts electrical signal does not move in the
proper sequence.
This causes the heart to beat faster or slower than normal, or erratically. These abnormal
rhythms are called arrhythmias.

Symptoms: dizziness, fainting, fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain or rapid
palpitations

Bradycardia: Occurs when the hearts electrical signal is delayed too long or blocked,
resulting in a slower than normal heartbeat.

Ventricular Tachycardia (VT): Occurs when the hearts electrical signal begins in the
ventricles (lower chambers of the heart) and the heart beats too rapidly.

Irregular or extra heartbeats: Even people with excellent health have irregular or extra
heartbeats every once in a while.
Cardiomegaly
An enlarged heart may have several causes. But it's usually the result of high blood pressure or
coronary artery disease.
It may not pump blood effectively, which can bring congestive heart failure. It may improve over
time. But most people with an enlarged heart need life-long treatment with medications.

Types
The heart enlarges because of damage to the heart muscle. Up to a point, an enlarged heart can
still pump blood normally. As the condition progresses, though, the heart's pumping ability
declines.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the main type of enlarged heart. The walls of both sides (also known
as ventricles) become thin and stretched. This enlarges your heart.
In the other types, the muscular left ventricle becomes very thick. High blood pressure may cause
your left ventricle to enlarge (a type known as hypertrophy). The thickening (which doctors call
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) can also be inherited.
An enlarged heart keeps more of its pumping ability when it's "thick" rather than "thin."

Causes
The most common trigger is blockages that affect the heart's blood supply (coronary artery
disease) and high blood pressure. There can be other causes, including:
Viral infection of the heart
Abnormal heart valve
Pregnancy, with the heart enlarging around the time of delivery (your doctor may call this
peripartum cardiomyopathy)
Kidney disease that needs dialysis
Alcohol or cocaine abuse
HIV infection
Genetic and inherited conditions
Frequently, no cause is known. Your doctor may refer to this as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Symptoms
Most often, an enlarged heart causes no symptoms. If it becomes unable to pump blood well
enough, you may get symptoms of congestive heart failure, such as:

Shortness of breath (especially when active or when lying flat)

Leg swelling
Weight gain, particularly in your midsection
Tired feeling
Palpitations or skipped heartbeats
Some folks may never have symptoms. Others may have little things that dont change for years. Still
others may have shortness of breath that steadily gets a little worse.
Diagnosis
An enlarged heart may be discovered after you and your doctor talk about symptoms you have that
could be tied to congestive heart failure. Other times, its found out through a test for something
else.