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Angina
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That chest pain is warning you about something specific: part of the heart is getting too little oxygen-rich blood. That is angina.
The heart needs a blood supply of its own, and it arrives through the coronary arteries. In stable angina the most common cause is atherosclerosis: a fixed plaque builds up in the wall of those arteries and narrows them, and the balance between the oxygen the muscle demands and the oxygen that reaches it breaks down. That lack of oxygen in the heart muscle is called myocardial ischemia, and the pain is its signal. It is a narrowed pipe: enough flow for small demands, not for big ones.
In stable angina that signal comes without the plaque rupturing and without a clot forming, and the muscle does not die; there is no myocardial necrosis.
In brief
Angina is chest pain that occurs when part of the heart muscle does not get enough oxygen-rich blood.
It signals myocardial ischemia, a mismatch between the oxygen the heart demands and the oxygen it receives; in stable angina the most common cause is fixed atherosclerotic narrowing of the coronary arteries.
It is a narrowed pipe: enough flow for small demands, not for big ones.
In stable angina there is no plaque rupture or thrombosis, and no myocardial necrosis occurs.
Sources (2)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood InstituteAngina (Chest Pain), What Is Angina?
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingStable Angina, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated