Angina and MI: key differences and warning signs

An MI is also called a heart attack. Symptoms can overlap, so a person should not try to distinguish them at home when chest discomfort is new, severe, persistent or different from their established pattern.

Stable angina tends to follow a recognisable pattern, such as discomfort during exertion that settles with rest or prescribed medicine. It signals that the heart's oxygen demand has temporarily exceeded its blood supply. It still requires medical management because it points to an underlying circulation problem.

During an MI, a coronary artery becomes blocked or critically narrowed long enough to injure heart muscle. Pressure, squeezing, heaviness or burning may occur in the chest and spread to an arm, shoulder, jaw, neck or back. Breathlessness, sweating, nausea, unusual weakness or light-headedness may appear, and some people have less typical discomfort.

If angina has been diagnosed, keep the prescribed relief medicine accessible and follow the personalised instructions for using it. Learn your usual triggers and pattern, pace activity as advised, and make sure someone close to you knows when to call for help. Never use medication prescribed for somebody else.

Attend follow-up appointments even when symptoms are controlled. A clinician may review blood pressure, cholesterol, tobacco exposure, blood sugar, medicines and activity. An electrocardiogram may help assess symptoms, while blood tests and other investigations can identify heart-muscle injury or reduced circulation when clinically indicated.

Call UAE emergency services now for chest discomfort that is severe, occurs at rest, persists, returns, or is accompanied by breathlessness, faintness, cold sweating, nausea or pain spreading beyond the chest. Do not wait to see whether it passes and do not drive yourself.

For someone with known angina, a stronger sensation, a longer episode, symptoms with less activity or failure to respond as expected to the prescribed action plan are urgent warning signs. Follow the plan while emergency help is being arranged.

Ask your clinician to describe your usual angina pattern, demonstrate how to use relief medicine and write down the point at which emergency help is needed. Also ask what your tests showed, which medicines reduce future risk, what side effects to report and how to return safely to physical activity.