By William R. Ladd, M.D.
Director of Nuclear Cardiology
Cardiocascular Institute of the South

If you suffer chest pain, particularly while exercising, you will almost certainly wonder whether it might be heart-related -- and well you should. Heart muscle pain -- angina -- is likely to be the first warning of blocked coronary arteries -- the c

While there are no infallible guidelines about whether a chest pain is heart-related, it generally takes a particular form.

Heart discomfort is rarely a sharp, stabbing pain. The textbook description of angina is a feeling of heaviness, pressure, tightness or aching in the chest, usually accompanied by shortness of breath.

The pain generally goes away when you stop exerting yourself, and it frequently isn't especially severe -- which is, perhaps, unfortunate. Even a heart attack may not be unbearably painful at first, permitting its victim to delay seeking treatment fo It is not unknown for patients to drive themselves to emergency rooms with what prove to be very serious and even fatal heart attacks!

Angina is a protest from the heart muscle that it isn't getting enough oxygen because of diminished blood supply. A heart attack is simply the most extreme state of oxygen deprivation, in which whole regions of heart muscle cells begin to die for lac

That's why it is so vital to seek medical attention quickly if you feel the sort of pressing pain or heaviness described above. There is a 90 percent probability that pain of this type is angina. And even if it goes away, the artery blockages that c

Ignoring this sort of pain because it is not unbearable or because it goes away is the worst thing you can do. It is the only warning you are likely to get of a potentially lethal condition. Heed it! Consult a cardiologist immediately.

&copy 1995 Cardiocascular Institute of the South

For further unknown for patients to drive themselves to emergency rooms with what prove to be very serious and even fatal heart attacks!

Angina is a protest from the heart muscle that it isn't getting enough oxygen because of diminished blood supply. A heart attack is simply the most extreme state of oxygen deprivation, in which whole regions of heart muscle cells begin to die for lac

That's why it is so vital to seek medical attention quickly if you feel the sort of pressing pain or heaviness described above. There is a 90 percent probability that pain of this type is angina. And even if it goes away, the artery blockages that c

Ignoring this sort of pain because it is not unbearable or because it goes away is the worst thing you can do. It is the only warning you are likely to get of a potentially lethal condition. Heed it! Consult a cardiologist immediately.

1995 Cardiocascular Institute of the South

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