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How Long will I have Angina for?

Once you have been diagnosed with angina you will normally have the condition for life. With certain lifestyle modifications, however, it can be a highly manageable condition.

Underlying damage caused by coronary heart disease cannot be reversed, although you can prevent it from getting worse through a combination of angina medication and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

The following are ways to keep your heart healthy in order to prevent the progression of coronary heart disease, which is the main cause of angina:

• Give up smoking
• Control your blood cholesterol levels through a healthy diet
• Keep your weight under control and your blood pressure low through regular exercise
• Control your blood glucose level if you are diabetic
• Avoid stress and strenuous exercise

If you have been diagnosed with angina, you should avoid certain triggers that exert strain on your heart, such as: ⁴

• Physical activity: Be aware of the level of activity you can participate in before your angina occurs and don’t engage in unusually strenuous exercise.
• Emotional stress: Situations that cause excess anger, worry, or stress can induce an angina attack. These circumstances should therefore be avoided or limited as much as possible.
• Eating large meals: If eating a large meal is a trigger for your angina, adopt an eating pattern where you eat smaller meals and avoid rich foods.

Generally, exercise and relaxation can help to relieve stress, while alcohol and drug use can be stress contributors rather than relievers.

Although angina isn’t a heart attack, if you have the condition you’re at a greater risk of having one. For this reason, you should pay close attention to the pattern of your angina, and keep note of whether it changes. This can include the angina lasting for longer or becoming more severe, an attack occurring without physical exercise or other triggers, or not being alleviated with your normal medication. If any of these happens it could be a sign that your angina is getting worse or is becoming unstable. Developing unstable angina may suggest that you’re at a higher risk of having a heart attack than if you have stable angina. ⁶

Angina sufferers should keep their medicine with them at all times, and should be familiar with the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. If you start to experience these signs, or your angina attack changes in nature and does not lessen as a result of your medication, you should seek urgent medical help.

Disease Information

• Angina
• Depression
• Diabetes (Type 2)
• Heart Attacks
• Heart Failure
• High Blood Pressure
• Osteoporosis (Postmenopausal)
• Stroke