QUESTION: I read your column each day and today it was about angina.
A mention of myocardial infarction or heart attack was included.
Is this the same as myocardial ischemic disease? If not, what is ischemia? Thank you in advance for your answer.
ANSWER: It is not difficult to get lost in the maze of terms we doctors use about disease, and though I should know better, I guess I wasn't as clear about these conditions as I want to be.
So let's go back and do it again, and hopefully get it right this time.
Ischemia (from the Greek word "ischein" to suppress, and "haima" blood) literally means a deficiency of blood supply to the heart, usually from an obstruction or constriction in the arteries that supply blood to the heart.
Because it is this blood supply that supplies the oxygen that heart cells need to live, ischemia is also used to describe situations in which there is an insufficient supply of oxygen to tissues. When the coronary arteries are the affected vessels, it may be called "coronary artery disease" as well.
When a sudden blockage of these arteries occurs, perhaps due to the formation of a clot inside the artery, the heart muscles are suddenly deprived of their needed oxygen supplies and a "heart attack" occurs, with all the well known symptoms of acute chest pain and shock.
If the situation cannot be speedily reversed (and it can in some incidences, due to new medications and techniques), the muscle tissue dies. And that's when the word "infarct" is used for it means "an area of tissue death due to local ischemia resulting from the obstruction of circulation to the area".
Add the word "myocardial" to the term ("myo" for muscle, "cardio" for heart), and the diagnosis is complete.
In the case of angina, the circulation blockage may not be complete, and the partial reduction of blood flow to the heart is enough to cause heart muscles to suffer an oxygen lack without dying.
The pain that this condition causes may make the patient stop all other activity, reducing the strain on the heart, and giving it a moment or two to catch up on its oxygen requirements.
The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace the counsel and advice of your personal physician.
Promptly consulting your doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical problem.
