Chest pain linked to poor economy

A cramping chest pain and difficulty getting air. Angina pectoris is relatively common among middle-aged Swedes and the symptoms are mainly linked to factors such as stress and poor finances, according to a large Swedish study.

Angina often occurs during physical exertion or strong emotions such as anger, and is caused by a temporary reduction in blood flow to the heart.

Common symptoms include chest pain and shortness of breath, which usually resolve within 10 minutes.

The new study, which looked at how common the condition is among middle-aged Swedes, found that around 3.5% are affected.

“Commonly occurring”

– “It was a bit more than we expected, and it shows that angina is common,” says Kerstin Welén Schef, a doctor at the heart clinic at Danderyd Hospital in Stockholm and one of the researchers.

The study, published in the journal Heart, involved 29 000 women and men aged 50-64 who completed a questionnaire on angina symptoms. Blood pressure and a range of other parameters were also examined.

Angina is often caused by a build-up of fat, known as atherosclerosis, in the coronary arteries. But only a small proportion of people with symptoms of angina had severe atherosclerosis, which surprised the researchers. More than half had perfectly normal coronary arteries.

Self-perceived stress

Nor were they classic risk factors for atherosclerosis, which were mainly linked to angina. Factors such as high levels of self-perceived stress and depression, poor finances and being born outside Sweden were more important.

– “It was surprising that psychological and socio-demographic factors were so important,” says Kerstin Welén Schef.

She believes that healthcare needs to be better at identifying these types of factors in people with angina symptoms and offering help, such as psychological treatment.