Angina Pectoris

the name first riven by Dr. Heberden in 1768, and since then universally adopted as the designation of a very painful disease, called by him also a disorder of the breast; by some others, spasm of the chest, or heart stroke, and popularly breast pang. It is characterized by intense pain in the precordial region, attended by a feeling of suffocation and a fearful sense of impending death. These symptoms may continue for a few minutes, half an hour, or even an hour or more. During the paroxysm the pulse is low, with the body cold, and often covered with clammy perspiration. Death does not often result from the first seizure, but the malady tends to return at more or le remote intervals, generally proving fatal at last. There are several varieties of it: an organic and functional form; and again a pure or idiopathic and a complex or sympathetic one have been recognized. It especially attacks elderly persons of plethoric habits, men oftener than women, generally coming on when they are walking, and yet more, it they are running up stairs or exerting great effort on ascending a hill. Stimulants should be administered during the continuance of a paroxysm; but it requires a radical improvement of the general health to produce a permanent effect on the disorder.