Heart Attack
When the amount of blood flowing through the coronary arteries is less than the heart muscle needs (a situation known as ischemia), one commonly experiences a tight, crushing sensation or pain (angina pectoris) in the center of the chest, or sometimes elsewhere (e.g. the left arm.)
Only rarely, it has been customarily believed, does ischemia occur without anginal pain, a situation known as silent ischemia. Now, however, the New England Journal of Medicine (318:1005) reports, it has been discovered that silent ischemia occurs quite often, especially at times of mental stress. Stress causes ischemia by temporarily constricting the blood vessels of the heart.
Only rarely, it has been customarily believed, does ischemia occur without anginal pain, a situation known as silent ischemia. Now, however, the New England Journal of Medicine (318:1005) reports, it has been discovered that silent ischemia occurs quite often, especially at times of mental stress. Stress causes ischemia by temporarily constricting the blood vessels of the heart.
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