Although it is not uncommon to experience chest pain, not seeking immediate medical care can make you end up in an emergency room. You can avoid that by seeking primary medical care if you experience chest pain. But why, you ask? Chest pain is associated with many underlying health conditions, which can be severe. Dr. Ashish Pal, MD, is a cardiologist and vein specialist at Vein and Cardiovascular Center and offers comprehensive chest pain diagnosis to check for coronary microvascular disease in Sebring.
Coronary Microvascular Disease
This is a type of coronary heart disease also referred to as microangiopathy or small vessel disease. It affects your very small arteries, capillaries, and arterioles by destroying their inner walls. This can lead to spasms and low blood flow to your heart muscles. If you are suffering from coronary microvascular disease, you experience pain in the chest alongside other symptoms. That is why it is requisite to seek immediate medical attention if you experience pain in your chest.
Causes of Coronary Microvascular Disease
Women are at a more prominent risk of developing this condition, particularly the younger women compared to the men. This is because lower estrogen levels increase the risk for the disease. However, anyone can get the disease, and it is always associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiomyopathy. This means that if your family has a history of these conditions, you might be at risk of developing coronary microvascular disease.
Other risk factors include:
- Age
- Overweight and obesity
- Smoking
- Unhealthy diet
- Inactivity
If left untreated, this condition will cause your heart to work harder to pump blood, which can trigger coronary artery spasm, heart failure, heart attack, or even death. Again, that is why it is critical to seek immediate medical attention.
Coronary Microvascular Disease Signs and Symptoms
If you have this disease, you can often experience chest pain known as angina or microvascular angina. The pain usually lasts for ten minutes, but it can last up to 30 minutes. Here are more signs and symptoms of coronary microvascular disease:
- Lack of energy
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Sleep problems
- Pain in the neck, back, arm, mandible, abdomen, or left shoulder
You will first notice these symptoms during your routine daily activities, but you will experience the symptoms less often during physical exertion and physical activity.
Coronary Microvascular Disease Diagnosis
If you seek immediate medical care for coronary microvascular disease, your provider will help you avoid the emergency room where you gamble for your life. Your provider will check on your medical history, perform a physical exam and evaluate some test results. The tests may include a stress test, coronary angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, note that these tests are not designed to detect coronary microvascular disease as it attacks the tiny coronary arteries. The tests are meant for coronary heart disease as these two diseases’ risk factors are often the same. Therefore, if the test results indicate no cardiovascular heart disease, then your provider proceeds to diagnose you with microvascular disease.
Coronary Microvascular Disease Treatment
Relieving your pain is one of the main aims of treating microvascular disease. Specific medications can be used and also be used to manage your risk factors. In case surgery is required, your provider will let you know.
As you have noted, coronary microvascular disease can be severe if left untreated, and it can even cause death. Therefore, if you are experiencing chest pain, you better contact Vein and Cardiovascular Center to diagnose and treat the underlying condition.
