Angina - A Health Awareness Campaign for Nigerians

Introduction
Chest pain is a very common complaint in most clinics across Nigeria. There are many possible causes of chest pain, which requires urgent medical attention, others less so. Among those that require urgent attention is Angina.
What is angina?
Angina, short for angina, is derived from the Latin word "angina" which means "throat infection", the Greek word "ankhone" meaning "neck" and "prospectus" Latin means "within." It can be described as chest pain strangulation. Wikipedia defines angina chest pain due to lack of blood, thus a lack of oxygen supply to the heart muscle, usually due to obstruction or spasm of blood vessels the heart.
Causes of angina
The main cause or the most common, angina is coronary artery disease, which is caused by a buildup of cholesterol on the walls of the coronary arteries (arteries that supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle). The deposition of cholesterol causes a narrowing of the arteries over time, a process known as atherosclerosis name, causing a partial blockage of the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. Inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart that causes chest pain. A less frequent cause is spasm (involuntary) muscle of the coronary arterial wall. Artery walls and muscle fibers contain a sudden contraction of muscle fibers can lead to a narrowing of the artery which in turn reduces the supply of oxygenated blood to the heart, causing angina. Angina caused by such a spasm or angina called variant and usually occurs at rest, especially in the early morning. Factors that may predispose to angina include age, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, a hereditary kidney disease. Factors that may cause or aggravate angina include: certain medications, smoking, and other medical conditions, including heart disease.
Types of angina
There are several types of angina, but the purpose of this article, I will briefly discuss two: the stable and unstable angina. Stable angina is the most common type and is usually triggered by physical or emotional stress effort, but decreases with the completion of the triggering event, therefore it is also known as "angina effort. " Unstable angina, on the other hand, usually occurs at rest or with minimal effort progressively worse and is very unpredictable, which can lead to a heart attack. Is, therefore, also known as "angina".
The symptoms of angina
The words used by patients to describe the pain of angina include heaviness, pressure, choking, squeezing, pressing, choking and sometimes burning or pain behind the breastbone or sternum. Apart from chest pain of angina may also be felt in the center of the upper abdomen, mimicking peptic ulcer, back, neck, jaw or shoulders. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, sweating, nausea and vomiting. These symptoms are usually caused by physical exertion, such as climbing stairs, or emotional stress. May be exacerbated by having a full stomach or cold weather. The pain of angina lasts 3-5 minutes before being relieved by rest or medications. Chest pain that lasts only a few seconds, it is unlikely that angina.
The diagnosis of angina pectoris
Angina is suspected if a person presents with chest pain or discomfort described as heaviness, tightening or choking, behind the breastbone or in the left chest, precipitated by exertion or emotional stress and relieved by rest. Angina can also occur in an atypical pattern as described above. Usually, an ECG (electrocardiogram) done in the absence of pain is usually normal, but an exercise or stress ECG done when the patient exercises, such as walking or jogging on a wire mill is generally diagnosis. Also stress echocardiography may be diagnostic. There are other investigations that can be done, but they are beyond the scope of this article.