ANGINA PECTORIS

By

Dr. Sayeed Ahmad, D.I. Hom. (London)

 Angina Pectoris is  a symptom of coronoray artery disease or in other word it is a sign of future heart attack.  This life threatening disease is increasing rapidly throughout the world due to nutritional disorder and lack of regular exercise, especially in the affluent group of people.

You may know that at rest heart pumps 70 ml blood per beat and 70 beats per minute (i.e. 100,800 beats per day) thus 5 litres blood per minutes and 7200 litres of blood per day (i.e. 2,628,000 litres per year). During exercise pumping is about 5 times more than at rest. Therefore, non-stop heart beats about 35-40 million times in a year and in a lifetime about two and a half billion times. Thus, take good care of your heart to keep you healthy and alive.

Angina Pectoris is a clinical syndrome resulting from lack of blood supply to heart muscles.  During the course of attack of angina pectoris the patient experiences chest pain with heaviness, pressure, suffocation, tightness, choking or squeezing.  The typical discomfort is sub-sternal in location.  The attack of angina pectoris occurs during physical or emotional stress and is relieved by rest.  The syndrome of angina pectoris may occur due to fright, shock, hurrying, anger, excitement, violence, sexual activities, walking against the wind, ascending staircases, walking uphills, walking on ramps as well as by having heavy meals and during exercise.  Angina may also occur during or after eating, exposure to cold temperature or to wind.  The main cause of occurances of angina is only when the workload  on the heart is increased and furthermore the most common cause of angina is due to accumulation of atheroma (fatty deposits ‘cholesterol’) inside the blood vessels wall, which causes obstruction in the normal flow of the blood to heart. Due to deposit of atheroma, the passage becomes narrow in the blood vessels wall and once the normal coronary artery becomes totally blocked, the heart attack takes place. Thus the angina is a symptom of coronary artery disease and in other world it is a sign of future heart attack (due to impairing the pumping ability of the heart).

The pain is normally experienced in the chest, behind the sternum, neck, jaw, throat, back, left shoulder, abdomen, left wrist and in the lef arm with numbness or heaviness as well as with a peculiar sensation of anxiety and fear of death.  The pain is knife-like and cutting (stabbing pain) may accompany the feeling of cold, sweating and breathlessness. Angina is always of a short duration, say 1-2 minutes.  However, if the chest pain persists ten minutes or more and is not relieved by rest, there is a possibility of heart attack.  Therefore, all chest pain should be considered seriously and the medical assistance and care is required immediately.

Angina Pectoris is more common in men than women (The heart’s size and work load are usually smaller in women) aged 35—60 years, who normally take rich diet and do not exercise.  Patients suffering from angina pectoris are advised to avoid strenuous exercise, smoking, alcohol or use of tobacco, excess of coffee, tea and other causing factors as indicated above in addition to reduce obesity with diet (avoiding fatty foods, reducing the quantity of food, reducing the amount of salt and sugar). Ideal weight should be attained and maintained, hypertension treated if present. Diabetes and the hyerlipidemias should be treated as well when they are present.  The patient should engage himself in steady dynamic exercise, such as slow walking.  The maintenance of good physical condition enable the patient to perform physical work more efficiently at  a lower pulse rate and, thus, reduces the frequency of anginal episodes.

For investigating angina pectoris, the following examinations are done:

Physical Examination

Laboratory Examination

Electrocardiogram

Stress Testing

Coronary Angiography

In allopathy, normally to treat the cases of angina pectoris the following Beta-blocker drugs are used:

Propranolol

Sotalol

Timolol

Acebualol

Atenolol

Metopolol

Nadolol

Oxprenolol

Pindolol

All the above Beta-bockers have following possible side-effects:

Slow heart rate

Cold hands and feet

Gastro-intestinal upset

Difficulty in breathing (Airway constriction)

Nightmares

Impotence

Heart failure

Considering the above side-effecs of Beta-blockers, the most reliable, safe and effective treatment for angina pectoris lies in homoeopathy.

For Homoeopathic Remedies in detail, please read the Author’s Book “Angina Pectoris and Its Cure in Homoeopathy” published by B. Jain Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi wherein you can find Classified Homoeopathic Remedies also. However, in brief the following remedies can be considered for angina pectoris and treatment should be done strictly under the supervision of a well qualified homoeopathic doctor.

REPERTORY

(William Boericke)

ANGINA PECTORIS -- Acon., Adren., Amyl, Arg. cy., Arg. n., Arn., Ars. iod., Ars., Aur. mur., Bism., Cact., Camph., Cereus, Chin. ars., Cim., Cocaine, Conv., Crat., Crot., Cupr. ac., Cupr. m., Dig., Diosc., Glon., Hæmatox., Hydroc. ac., Kali c., Kali iod., Kal., Latrod., Lil. t., Lith. c., Lob. infl., Mag. p., Magnol., Morph., Naja, Nat. iod., Nat. nit., Nux v., Oleand., Ox. ac., Phos., Phyt., Pip. nig., Prun. sp., Samb., Spart., Spig., Spong., Staph., Stront. c., Stront. iod., Tab., Thyr., Ver. v., Zinc. v.
Abuse of coffee, From -- Coff.
Abuse of stimulants, From -- Nux v., Spig.
Muscular origin, [From] -- Cupr., Hydroc. ac.
Organic heart disease [From] -- Ars. iod., Cact., Calc. fl., Crat., Kal., Nat. iod., Stront. iod., Tab.
Rheumatism [From] -- Cim., Lith. c.
Straining, overlifting [From] -- Arn., Carbo an., Caust.
Tobacco [From] -- Kal., Lil. t., Nux v., Spig., Staph., Tab.
Pseudo-angina pectoris -- Aconitine, Cact., Lil. t., Mosch., Nux v., Tar. h.
Præcordial oppression, anxiety, heaviness -- Acon., Adon. v., Adren., Æsc., Agar., Am. c., Amyl, Apis, Ars., Ars. iod., Aspar., Aur., Brom., Bry., Cact., Calc. ars., Calc. c., Camph., Carbo v., Cereus, Cim., Colch., Collins., Cotyled., Crat., Cupr., Dig., Diosc., Ferr., Glon., Hematox., Hydroc. ac., Iberis, Ign., Iod., Ipec., Kal., Lach., Latrod., Laur., Lil t., Lith. c., Lycop., Magnol., Menyanth., Naja, Nat. ars., Primula v., Puls., Sapon., Spig., Spong., Tab., Thea, Thyr., Vanad., Ver. v.
Shooting

Down left shoulder, arm to fingers -- Acon., Arn., Asper., Bism., Cact., Cim., Crot., Kal., Latrod., Lepid., Naja, Ox. ac., Rhus t., Spig., Tab.
From apex to base -- Med.
From base to apex at night -- Syph.
From back to clavicle, shoulder -- Spig.
Lancinating, tearing -- Ars., Bell., Cact., Cereus, Cim., Colch., Daphne, Glon., Iberis, Kal., Latrod., Lil. t., Lith. c., Magnol., Menthol, Ox. ac., Pæonia, Phyt., Spig., Syph., Tab.

Stitching, cutting -- Abies n., Acon., Anac., Ars., Asclep. t., Bry., Cact., Can. ind., Caust., Cereus, Dig., Iberis, Kali c., Kali n., Lith. c., Naja, Spig.

Atheroma of arteries (arteriosclerosis) -- Adren., Am. iod., Am. vanad., Ant. ars., Arn., Ars., Ars. iod., Aur. iod., Aur., Aur. m. n., Bar. c., Bar. m., Cact., Calc. fl., Chin. s., Con., Crat., Ergotin, Glon., Iodothyr., Kali iod., Kali sal., Lach., Lith. c., Nat. iod., Phos., Plumb. iod., Plumb. m., Polygon. av., Sec., Stront. c., Stront. iod., Stroph., Sumb., Vanad.

Circulation, sluggish -- Æth., Calc. c., Calc. p., Carbo an., Carbo v., Cim., Cinnam., Ferr. p., Gels., Led., Nat. m., Rhus t., Sil.

Congestion of blood (local) -- Acon., Æsc., Ambra, Amyl, Aur., Bell., Cact., Calc. c., Centaur., Cupr. m., Ferr. m., Ferr. p., Gadus mor., Glon., Kali iod., Lil. t., Lonic., Meli., Millef., Phos., Sang., Sep., Sil., Spong., Stellar., Sul., Ver. v.