It's not 'all in the mind'

CHEST tightness or significant shortness of breath on exertion which is relieved on rest is called "angina" and suggests that one may have significant blockage of the heart arteries. However, there are some who have no significant blockage of the heart arteries upon testing, and yet continue to be troubled by symptoms typical of angina. Many doctors will dismiss it as "all in the mind" and deem the symptoms to be inconsequential. Based on data from recent research, this may not be so.

Heart attacks in the absence of significant disease

There is increasing evidence to show that angina and heart attacks do not only occur in patients with significant blockage of the coronary (heart) arteries. A study on a United States database of more than 400,000 patients undergoing invasive imaging of the heart arteries via the insertion of plastic tubes into arteries and the injection of contrast agents into heart arteries (coronary angiography) by Patel, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that of those suspected to have heart artery disease, only about one-third had significant blockage of the arteries.