acute coronary syndrome

off the asthma subject im afraid..although i am asthmatic!last year i was actually an in-patient in my local hospital due to an asthma attack..while there i suffered chest pains and on being discharged a couple of days later was given a sealed envelope addressed to my doctor...i hate sealed envelopes btw lolol..well i did what i really shouldnt have done and steamed it open!the phrase acute coronary syndrome was mentioned..could someone please give me an explanation as to what this is exactly?and should i be concerned? thanks

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Its basically coveres a wide area of heart ischemia (lack of O2 to muscle) so angina or a small heart attack. Usually if ECG is normal its usally but down to angina so basically anything that is narrowing of the arteries of the heart. Usual treatment is asprin a day/blood thinner of some sort and GTN spray. But if they didnt explain this to you then I doubt it is anything to worry about.

[yaf_user681_23350]

Hi I had problems with heart after an asthma attack but didn't cause any lasting effects. Wasn't enough oxygen getting to heart because my asthma had gone loopy. Had spray under tongue and oxygen.Ecg repeated in hospital an hour later and heart was fine again. It does freak me out when I have asthma attacks that it will happen again, but no probs so far. If they didn't tell you, I wouldn't worry, they are probably letting your doctor know for future reference.

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have the wee gtn spray..used it a few times..also told if i have any kind of chest pain that doesnt subside to call 999..wasnt too keen on that but been told that it's better to be safe than sorry..thanks for replies

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Just to mention that you have the right to see all your medical records anyway. The days when doctors could keep patients in ignorance are long gone. I didn't think discharge letters were usually sealed now, but if so I would always open it as you may need the information contained there. You don't need to feel guilty about that - it's your body!