The most common symptom of ischemia – is angina, “angina pectoris”. Angina can be described as a discomfort, a feeling of pressure, burning, pain, numbness, overflow, compression in the retrosternal area. It can be confused with indigestion or heartburn. Usually the symptoms of angina occur in the heart, but can also be felt in his left shoulder, arms, neck, back or jaw.
Other symptoms of ischemia: Shortness of breath, palpitations (irregular heartbeats, skipped beats or a feeling that the heart leaps out of his chest), rapid heartbeat, weakness or dizziness, nausea, increased sweating.
Learn to recognize your symptoms and situations that might call them. Call your doctor if you have any new symptoms or those who visited before, began to appear more often or harder. If you or someone else has chest discomfort, especially in combination with one or more of the symptoms listed above, no later than a few minutes (no more than 5 minutes), call an ambulance.
If you suffer from angina and the treatment are taking nitroglycerin, and if, after receiving two doses or 15 minutes, the pain continues, call your doctor or ask someone to take you to the hospital. Ambulance staff can advise you to chew an aspirin to dissolve blood clots alleged, of course, if you do not have medical contraindications for its reception.
Ischemia and even a heart attack can occur without warning symptoms. This is called silent ischemia. It can occur in anyone with heart disease, especially with concomitant diabetes.
Your doctor can diagnose ischemia: to ask you about your symptoms, history of disease and risk factors, conducting physical examination. Carrying out diagnostic tests, including electrocardiogram (ECG) tests with physical exercise, CT ultrafast electron beam; cardiac catheterization and other methods, these surveys will help the doctor evaluate the extent of your coronary heart disease, its effect on cardiac function and find you the best treatment.
Treatment of ischemia is to reduce your risk factors, medications, perhaps, in the passage of invasive and/or surgical procedures and be sure to regularly visit their doctor to monitor your condition.
Reducing your risk factors is a change in lifestyle. If you smoke, you must stop. Your diet probably also needs to be corrected to lower cholesterol, maintain normal blood pressure and blood sugar levels if you have diabetes. It is recommended to reduce levels of fat, sodium, cholesterol in food consumption. You should raise the level of physical activity to maintain a healthy weight and avoid stress. But before the start of sports consult with your doctor.
Medications. If lifestyle changes not enough to control your heart disease, then, to the heart to work more efficiently and receive more oxygenated blood, used drugs. Their choice depends on your specific heart disease.
Surgical and other procedures. Coronary heart disease are commonly used such manipulations as balloon angioplasty, stenting and coronary artery bypass grafting. All these procedures increase the delivery of blood to the heart, but do not cure itself ischemia. All the same, you need to reduce risk factors to prevent further development of the disease.
Currently, doctors are exploring several new approaches to treating heart disease. Below are some of the most promising.
Transmyocardial laser revascularization. This procedure improves blood flow to the heart muscle, is held for people with advanced coronary artery disease. Laser beams are used to create channels in heart muscle to improve blood flow to heart tissue.
Angiogenesis. It consists of intravenous or intra cardiac administration of substances that trigger the heart of the growth of new blood vessels to bypass clogged.
Enhanced external counterpulsation. Many patients suffer frequent prolonged and severe symptoms of angina; they are tired of the standard treatment, which does not give them any effect. Enhanced external counterpulsation may stimulate opening or formation of collaterals (small branches of blood vessels) to create natural bypasses, bypassing the narrowed or blocked arteries. This noninvasive treatment, it is suitable for people with chronic stable angina, nitrates are not helping and are not suitable for invasive procedures such as bypass surgery, angioplasty or stenting.