Angina Treatment

Angina  Treatment

You may have several options for your angina treatment like angioplasty and stenting, medications or lifestyle changes. Let’s discover the benefits and risks of each treatment.

When your doctor says your chest pain (angina) is caused by blockages in your heart arteries and that you need to get those blockages taken care of, what are your options?

First, it’s important to determine what type of angina you have. There are two main types of angina — chronic stable angina and unstable angina. Unstable angina is a serious situation and requires emergency angina treatment which involves surgery or a procedure called angioplasty, combined with the placement of a small metal tube called a stent.

But doctors have been debating which angina treatment works best for chronic stable angina.  Some doctors think angioplasty is the best treatment option. Others believe taking medications for angina treatment may be just as effective for some people to prevent heart attacks by undergoing angioplasty.

Making a decision on your angina treatment can be difficult, but knowing the benefits and risks of stents and medications may help you decide.

Angina is chest pain, and doctors usually describe it as chronic stable angina or unstable angina. What are the treatment options for chronic stable angina?

Angioplasty and stenting involve some risk. There’s a small risk of blockages re-forming after a stent is implanted, as well as additional risks — albeit small — including the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or life-threatening bleeding during or after the procedure. Inserting a stent is expensive, meaning you may want to factor the cost into your medical decision. You should also consider that even if you have a stent placed, you’ll probably need to take medications as an additional angina treatment.

Many doctors consider angioplasty with stent placement to be a good angina treatment option for blocked arteries and chronic stable angina. That’s because it’s less invasive than open-heart surgery and has had good results.

Keep in mind that you’ll still likely need to take some medications like asprin, nitrates, beta blockers, statins, calcium channel blockers, etc, after an angioplasty as part of your angina treatment.

If you try drug treatment and lifestyle changes and you still have symptoms that are limiting you, a stent may be the next step.
Regardless of which angina treatment you choose, your doctor will recommend that you make lifestyle changes. Because heart disease is often the underlying cause of most forms of angina, you can reduce or prevent angina by working on reducing your heart disease risk factors by giving up smoking, taking care of your diet, lack of physical activity, controlling your weight, avoiding stress, etc.