
Two common sources of chest pain are angina and coronary heart disease. When the vessels that supply oxygen and blood to the hart narrow, that is coronary heart disease. Angina is the sort of discomfort or pain felt in the chest when you perform certain activities, or when you feel stressed, caused by poor blood flow through the heart’s blood vessels. Managing these particular types of chest pain can be broken down into a few main categories.
Blood flow is key to understanding pain caused by coronary heart disease and angina. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes are all factors to keep in mind. You should check with a medical professional, but many people will be advised to keep their blood pressure to 130/80, or lower if you suffer from kidney disease, diabetes, heart problems or stroke. Here are some general lifestyle points to keep in mind which are considered risk factors for heart disease:
Eating a balanced diet geared toward heart health can help you manage some of the conditions that cause heart pain, including heart disease and angina. Here are a few options:
Any medication for heart conditions will come at the recommendation of your healthcare professional, which makes it equally important that you discuss with them before stopping any heart medications. Stopping suddenly or changing up your dose can worsen angina or cause a heart attack. Some of the drugs typically prescribed to treat CHD, diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol include:
Your doctor will be able to help you put together a plan for heart health, and to manage angina. You should discuss with them the activities that are healthy for you to do, and which aren’t, as well as the medications you should take, and signs to look out for should your angina get worse.