Angina - What Is It and Are There Natural Remedies for Angina?

The term angina generally refers to the tightening sensation, which for some is painful, experienced in the body. There are several sub classes of angina and it depends on the location of the tightening or discomfort. Bowelgina is experienced in the abdominal area and this is otherwise known as Abdominal Angina.

Another life-threatening kind of angina is the Ludwig's angina. This is due to an infection on the floor of the mouth commonly caused by dental infections. The most common use of the term angina refers to Angina pectoris. This is the heavy distress experienced in the chest area.

Symptoms of angina are hard to distinguish from normal chest pain like heartburn but there are certain signs that tell you that are having an angina attack. Different people would describe angina differently. Most would say that it is not very painful but just a big discomfort.

Words used to describe angina are choking sensation, heaviness of the chest, tightening, squeezing or even burning on the torso area. This feeling lasts between one to five minutes. If it is shorter or longer, most probable it is not Angina pectoris. Best way to know is to get an ECG.

There are 2 types of angina. The first one is Stable Angina. It refers to the demonstration of the symptoms after activities which exert once self like jogging or lifting a heavy weight.

The other is Unstable Angina which occurs without provocation. You can be at rest; it can be sudden and also escalating. This is due to blood clots being released from the blood vessels.

Basically angina is just a symptom of a heart condition known as myocardial ischemia. It comes from the tightening, narrowing or blocking of the blood vessels specifically the arteries providing oxygenated blood to the heart.

When there are too much deposits of fat on the arteries the smaller the passage of blood becomes and the less blood flow is permitted. Also the higher the concentration of bad cholesterol there is the thicker the consistency of blood becomes.

Understanding this, the most common cure used is aspirin. Aspirin is a blood thinner which makes blood flow easier to different parts of the body. This also helps dissolve small blood clots causing angina pains.

Other treatments include administration of magnesium. For mild angina oral magnesium with B vitamins provide relief of this symptom. For more severe cases magnesium injections are recommended.

Food therapy also helps. For extreme cases, a low fat vegetarian diet may just save your life. Eating salads with dark green leaves such as spinach, kale, mustard greens and turnip greens are advised. Also stay away from too much dressing.

Juice therapy with cantaloupe juice is said to cure most angina pains. The adenosine compound found in the juice of fresh cantaloupe helps thin the blood.

With all these natural treatments for angina, most doctors, if not all, will still tell you that the best and safest cure is prevention. Exercise helps a lot in preventing heart disease and symptoms that can cause discomfort.

Doing regular cardio workouts help strengthen the heart. Proper is the only way to eat. Stay away from food with too much cholesterol. You can eat anything, but in moderation and nutritionally balanced.

Dee Braun, a single mom of 6, is a Cert. Aromatherapist and natural health practitioner. Click now to visit Health or High Water at http://www.HealthOrHighWater.com/ where you'll find info to improve your health using nutritional supplements to battle the ravages of time, poor nutrition, & toxins.