ANGINA (CHEST PAIN) TREATMENT IN LONDON
What Is angina?
Angina is a type of chest pain that happens when the blood supply to your heart muscle is reduced. It can be a sign of underlying coronary artery disease, where the arteries that carry blood to your heart are narrowed or blocked.
Although angina itself is not life-threatening, it’s a sign that your heart’s not getting enough oxygen. Without effective treatment, it can increase your risk of a heart attack, stroke or other serious complications.
Angina is more common in people over 50, but it can affect younger adults, particularly if they have cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes or a family history of heart disease.
Symptoms of angina
The most common symptom of angina is chest pain or discomfort that can feel like:
- A heavy, tight or squeezing sensation in the chest
- Pain that spreads to the neck, jaw, shoulders, back or arms
- Discomfort that comes on during exercise or stress and eases with rest
Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue and pain in the upper abdomen.
Not everyone with angina experiences obvious chest pain. Some people may only feel breathless or unusually tired. Because chest pain can also be the first sign of a heart attack, any new or unexplained chest symptoms should be checked urgently by a doctor.
If you experience chest pain, it’s best to have an electrocardiogram (ECG) carried out while the discomfort is still present. This test can show whether the pain is related to your heart. Because angina pain can come and go, it’s not always possible to capture it in the moment.
If that happens, your cardiologist can arrange other heart tests, such as an echocardiogram. These give us a clearer picture of your heart health and help us decide the most suitable angina treatment for you.
Angina treatment
The best angina treatment depends on your symptoms, test results and overall health. At Expert Cardiologist in London, we provide a full range of treatments tailored to your needs.
For many people, angina treatment begins with medication. These medicines can improve blood flow to the heart, ease symptoms such as chest pain and lower the risk of heart attack or stroke. Your cardiologist will create a treatment plan that is tailored to your needs, which may include one or more of the following:
- Nitrates – help relax and widen blood vessels, making it easier for blood to reach your heart
- Beta blockers – slow the heart rate and reduce the strain placed on your heart muscle
- Calcium channel blockers – relax and widen the arteries, lowering blood pressure and easing chest pain
- Statins – lower cholesterol, a fatty substance found in your blood. While your body needs some cholesterol to stay healthy, too much can build up in the arteries and increase your risk of heart disease. Statins help reduce this risk by preventing further narrowing of the arteries
- Antiplatelet medicines (such as aspirin) – reduce the risk of blood clots forming in narrowed arteries
Medication can be highly effective at controlling angina and protecting long-term heart health. Your cardiologist will monitor how you’re doing closely and adjust treatment as needed.
If medication alone doesn’t ease symptoms, angioplasty might be recommended. This is a minimally invasive procedure in which a tiny balloon is carefully guided into the narrowed artery and gently inflated to restore blood flow to the heart.
In most cases, a stent (a small mesh tube) is placed in the artery to help keep it open long term. Angioplasty can relieve chest pain and reduce the risk of a future heart attack, often with a quicker recovery time than traditional surgery.
If the arteries are severely blocked, we may advise a coronary artery bypass. During this operation, a healthy blood vessel from another part of the body is used to create a new route for blood to flow around the blockage.
Bypass surgery is usually recommended when several arteries are affected or when an angioplasty is not suitable. Although it’s a more involved procedure, it can provide long-lasting relief from angina and significantly improve your quality of life.
As well as medical and surgical treatments, making positive lifestyle changes plays an important role in managing angina. Small adjustments to your daily routine can ease symptoms, improve overall heart health and lower your risk of complications in the future.
We may recommend steps such as:
- Following a heart-healthy diet low in saturated fat and salt
- Staying active with regular, suitable exercise
- Stopping smoking to protect your heart and circulation
- Limiting alcohol
- Managing stress with relaxation techniques or supportive therapies
These changes may seem small, but they can make a big difference to your wellbeing. At Expert Cardiologist, we provide tailored advice and ongoing support to help you put them into practice, ensuring your angina treatment plan is as effective as possible.
Types Of angina
There are several different types of angina, differing in symptoms and severity.
Stable angina is the most common type of angina. It usually follows a predictable pattern, often showing up during exercise or moments of stress. The discomfort normally eases with rest or prescribed angina medication and doesn’t tend to last long. With the right care, it can usually be managed well.
Unstable angina is less predictable and needs urgent care. Pain may happen at rest, last more than 20 minutes and often may not ease with medication. It carries a higher risk of heart attack and needs immediate treatment.
Also called Prinzmetal’s angina, this type is caused by artery spasms. It can trigger intense pain at rest, often in cycles. With the right medication, these spasms can usually be controlled and your symptoms eased.
This form of angina causes ongoing pain despite lifestyle changes and standard treatment. It often needs more specialised care and support to help manage symptoms and improve your quality of life.
What causes angina?
Angina is usually caused by narrowed arteries due to a build-up of fatty deposits. This process, known as atherosclerosis, limits the oxygen-rich blood reaching the heart.
While angina becomes more common with age, we also treat younger patients, particularly if they have a strong family history of heart disease or other risk factors. Smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise can all speed up this process.
The good news is that lifestyle changes, alongside the right medical care, can make a real difference. We work closely with our patients to provide practical, personalised advice that helps protect their long-term heart health.
Diagnosing angina
To find out whether your symptoms are due to angina, we may carry out a number of simple tests. We’ll start by talking through your symptoms and your family history, before checking things like your blood pressure and cholesterol.
If more detail is needed, we can arrange further heart tests to give us a clearer picture of your cardiovascular health and guide treatment.
Some of the tests we use to diagnose angina include:
- ECG
- Chest X-ray
- Stress test
- Blood tests
- Echocardiogram
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan
- Computed tomography (CT) scan
Your cardiologist will recommend the most suitable tests for you. Getting an early diagnosis is important, and at Expert Cardiologist, we specialise in identifying the cause of chest pain and providing the right angina treatment.
Worried about your heart?
DON’T suffer in silence, seek expert help without delay
Book a cardiology appointment with Dr Karagiannis
If you’re concerned about chest pain or think you may have angina, don’t wait for your symptoms to worsen. Dr Georgios Karagiannis and our team at Expert Cardiologist are here to provide fast access to diagnosis and personalised angina treatment.
Book your consultation today, and we’ll ensure you receive prompt angina treatment.
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