I have a very close friend. She's been depressed recently, and she has a problem going on. I'm the closest person she's got, but she won't tell me what exactly is wrong. what she told me is that she has a variant angina (a.k.a Prinzmetal's angina). I've been searching the internet and I'm still confused on this.
What I'd like to know is:
What it it.
How bad is it?
Is it fatal?
Is there a cure?
What can I do?
Her background information: She's 22, healthy, 100lbs, and Asian American.
"Angina" is apparently a term used to describe diseases that have to do with episodes of pain that come in spasms (muscle contractions) in the throat or chest. Prinzmetal's angina is a disease that will cause chest pain, and has to do with your friend's coronary artery. This is the blood vessel that branches out almost immediately after coming out from the heart- and it actually goes right back INTO the heart, to feed the heart muscle oxygen and nutrients. when people eat terrible diets, this is the one that they notice when it gets blocked, because a heart without oxygen is not a happy heart (this causes a heart attack).
Veins and arteries have a little bit of muscle tissue inside their walls. (see sci.sdsu.edu/class/bio590/pic… )
In Prinzmetal's angina, a researcher realized that when a patient has an episode, the muscle inside the coronary artery is going into muscle contractions, which interrupts the flow of blood to the heart. This apparently is not as serious as a heart attack, and it is noted that this occurance alone rarely results in a heart attack, but it can happen, and the event is painful regardless. The chest pain is often described as "squeezing, constricting, tightness, pressure, or crushing, which is usually severe and may radiate to the neck, jaw, shoulder, or arm, often occurs at rest, and lasts from 5 to 30 minutes". More information, including treatment, other symptoms, and the probable chances of recovery, is available at the site below.
Usually this is just obnoxious.
We call it "variant angina" because it does not result from a blockage in the coronary arteries like regular angina does.
Prinzmetal's (named after a doctor by that name) is caused by spasm in the coronary arteries.
So the pain is the same as regular angina, but in general, it is far less worrisome.
Using calcium channel blockers helps this (by blocking the spasm in the smooth muscle of the artery wall).
But if she is that young, she may not tolerate the meds since they lower blood pressure – and she may get dizzy from BO that is too low.
What can you do?
Share this information with her, suggest she try the calcium channel blockers (they are prescription only), and encourage her to exercise at least 30 minutes every single day.
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