Nitroglycerin
NitrostatPubChem CID 4510 · 3D model
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Breaks down in the body into nitric oxide, a natural signal that tells blood vessel walls to relax, widening veins and arteries so the heart doesn't have to work as hard and gets more blood flow, which relieves chest pain from angina within minutes.
How it works
Nitroglycerin breaks down in the body into nitric oxide, a signal your blood vessels naturally use to relax. That relaxes and widens both veins and arteries: the wider veins let more blood pool away from the heart so it doesn't have to push as hard, and the wider arteries lower the pressure the heart is pumping against. Widened coronary arteries can also let more blood reach the heart muscle itself. Together, this eases the heart's workload and oxygen demand fast, which is why a tablet under the tongue can stop an angina attack within minutes.
What it’s used for
Nitroglycerin tablets are used to stop an angina attack (chest pain from a heart not getting enough blood) as it's happening, or to prevent one right before an activity likely to trigger it, like climbing stairs. You dissolve a tablet under your tongue, and if the pain doesn't ease after a few tablets a few minutes apart, it's time to get emergency medical help — that pain could be a heart attack rather than ordinary angina.
- Mechanism
- Nitrate vasodilator, releases nitric oxide to relax vascular smooth muscle
- Drug class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Cardiovascular