How to handle a heart attack

Angina is a condition usually caused by the build up of a cholesterol plaque on the inner lining of the coronary arteries. Over time, the build up of the plaque causes narrowing and hardening of the arteries, and this significantly reduces the blood flow to the heart muscle. When a person is resting the heart is beating at its resting rate; when any type of exertion is undertaken the heart is required to beat more strongly and at a faster rate to ensure that an adequate supply of oxygenated blood is being circulated. This is a case of “supply and demand”, and the more exertion, the more cardiac effort is required, and the more oxygen the heart will need. When the coronary arteries are narrowed less blood can be supplied to the heart muscle, so a situation will be reached where the demand of the heart muscle for blood will exceed that which the coronary arteries can supply. The heart muscle will therefore be deprived of oxygen and “cramps”, producing pain.