Nitroglycerin: A blast from the past remains a trusted standby

Nitrates offer quick, effective relief from a common heart disease symptom, often for just pennies per dose.

Nitroglycerin, a key component of dynamite, is also famous for relieving the crushing chest pain known as angina. The drug's discovery allegedly arose from the observation that some workers in a dynamite factory complained of chest pains only when they went home at night. The reason? They were having withdrawal from nitroglycerin in the air at work, which opened their coronary arteries. The plain old air at home didn't.