A violent paroxysm of painful sensations in the chest arising, for the most part, in connection with disease of the coronary arteries of the heart. The heart muscle has received an inadequate flow of blood because the coronary arteries are blocked, either through temporary spasm or narrowing due to arteriosclerosis. Angina pectoris in its severe forms, which are often associated with death of some heart muscle or heart failure itself (myocardial infarction), may be popularly called a heart attack.
Nitroglycerin was invented in 1847 and displaced gunpowder as the most powerful explosive in the world. It was also the first modern drug to treat angina, the chest pain associated with heart disease. Factory workers exposed to the explosive began to experience headaches and flushing in the face. This was because nitroglycerin is a vasodilator – it dilates (opens) the blood vessels. London physician William Murrell experimented with nitroglycerin on himself and tried it on his angina patients. They got almost immediate relief.
Nitroglycerin made it possible for millions of people with angina to live relatively normal lives. It also paved the way for medications such as blood pressure-lowering drugs, beta-blockers and statins. These medicines have extended lives and increased the average lifespan in Western countries.
Because of its association with coronary artery disease, angina pectoris is predominantly a disease of middle age and is much more common in men than in women. It is also more common in the industrialized world.