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. Othe
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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