Angina is caused by coronary artery disease (CAD), when your heart muscle does not get enough blood. Your heart's need for oxygen is determined by how hard your heart is working - how fast your heart is pumping and how strong the beats are. The harder your heart has to work, the more oxygen it requires. When your heart's increased need for oxygen is not being met, ischemic heart disease can occur, causing pain.
Angina causes temporary pain or a feeling of pressure in your chest that can radiate to your back, neck arms, jaws and teeth, your wrists, fingers and between your shoulder blades. Although the pain is more common in your left arm, it can occur in your right arm as well. These pains, also known as angina pectoris, are often triggered, in the early stages, by physical exertion or emotional stress and usually go away after several minutes. The pain can be made worse by cold weather, windy conditions and exercise, or during physical activity after you've eaten. If you have suffered or are suffering these symptoms, your doctor will need to know how often these symptoms occur, when they began, how long they last and if you have any associated feelings of symptoms such as nausea, sweating, dizziness or heart irregularities.
Other causes of angina stem from abnormalities of the aortic valve, which
is near the entrance to your coronary arteries. Any abnormalities in your
aortic valve will cause reduced blood flow through your coronary arteries
to your heart muscle, also causing pain. Narrowing of the aortic valve, called
aortic valve stenosis, leakage of the aortic valve (aortic valve regurgitation)
and hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, can all cause angina.
Angina can also result from a sudden, temporary constriction of your arteries
(arterial spasm), and severe anemia, which reduces the supply of oxygen to
your heart muscle.