Angina: Causes, Treatments, and What You Need to Know

When your heart doesn't get enough oxygen, it sends a signal—angina, a type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscle. Also known as stable angina, it’s not a heart attack, but it’s a serious warning sign that something’s wrong with your coronary artery disease, a condition where plaque builds up in the arteries that feed your heart. If you’ve ever felt pressure, tightness, or a squeezing sensation in your chest during exercise or stress, you’ve likely experienced angina.

Angina doesn’t always mean your heart is dying right now, but it does mean your arteries are narrowed. This happens mostly because of fatty deposits building up over time—something that’s worsened by smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes. Unlike a heart attack, angina usually goes away with rest or medicine like nitroglycerin, a fast-acting drug that relaxes blood vessels to improve blood flow to the heart. But if the pain lasts longer than a few minutes, doesn’t improve with rest, or comes with nausea or sweating, it could be a heart attack. That’s when you call emergency services—no waiting.

People often confuse angina with indigestion or muscle strain. But angina has patterns: it shows up during physical effort, emotional stress, or cold weather, and fades when you stop. It’s not random. And while you can’t reverse plaque buildup overnight, you can slow it down—through diet, exercise, quitting smoking, and taking the right meds. Some people need stents or bypass surgery. Others manage with daily aspirin, beta-blockers, or statins. The goal isn’t just to stop the pain—it’s to prevent a heart attack.

You’ll find real-world comparisons here: how nitroglycerin stacks up against newer drugs, what lifestyle changes actually move the needle, and how angina differs from other types of chest pain. No fluff. Just what works, what doesn’t, and what to ask your doctor next time you’re worried about that tightness in your chest.