1 You'll need to avoid strenuous activities, but you may be able to continue normal daily activities, such as going to work. 2  Talk to your doctor about an appropriate level of activity for you. 3  Follow a balanced diet.
Nitroglycerin works by causing your veins to expand or dilate, known as venodilation. It also works on dilating the coronary arteries, contributing to the relief of angina.
Murad discovered in 1977 that nitroglycerin and related artery-widening compounds act by releasing nitric oxide. Furchgott later concluded that cells in the inner lining of blood vessels secrete some unknown substance that makes vessels dilate.