Know The Health Of Your Heart With Cardiac Stress Test

By Andrew Wright


If your heart is working hard or throbbing faster, the doctor says that it is easier to diagnose some problem in the heart. Therefore, testing stress gives information on how your heart functions by subjecting physical strains on the heart. You can pedal a stationary bike or treadmill walk while conducting a cardiac stress test. Checking the heart is performed when you are exercising because it results in your heart beating faster as well as working harder.

Some medical issues such as arthritis can hinder carrying out exercises when your taking tests for the heart. In such an event, the heart can be made to perform as if you are taking a practice through a prescription of some drugs by your physician. This kind of diagnosis is referred as pharmacological stress testing.

Physicians make use of testing methods to make a diagnosis of coronary heart disease or to detect how severe it is. Coronary heart disease results from a waxy substance called plaque that builds up in the coronary arteries; that take oxygenated blood to the heart. A build-up of the plaques narrows the arteries and as such reduces the flow of the blood to the heart muscle. Plaques may as well increase clotting of blood that critically blocks flow of blood in the artery. Cases of heart attack and chest pains or simply angina are some of the conditions that may arise.

Sometimes, you might not have signs that you are suffering from coronary heart disease. However, when your heart is working harder, this condition can be detected. This is because, during exercise when the heart is working hard, more blood with oxygen will be needed. Narrow arteries cannot supply enough blood to help your heart work well. The signs of coronary heart disease only occur during exercises.

During the testing, other problems can be detected. These problems suggest that the heart is not getting sufficient blood with oxygen during exercise. First, the test can indicate abnormal changes, blood pressure or heart rate. Secondly, signs of shortness of breath and chest pain can be detected during low levels of exercise and abnormal heart rhythm.

If you cannot perform the exercise for the time considered normal for your age during the test, this could be a sign of lack of sufficient flow of blood to the heart. Other factors other than coronary heart disease may lower the exercise duration. Such factors are such as anemia, lung disease, and poor general fitness. Doctors can also use stress testing to look at other problems like heart failure and heart valve disease.

Although exercise stress test is the standard testing, your doctor in Princeton, NJ, can use various tests. Information on your heart response to physical strain can be given by conducting a test known as treadmill test. Monitoring of heart rate, electrocardiogram, and blood pressure is done when performing the test.

Similarly, your physician can use nuclear stress test. The test assists in finding out the healthy parts of the heart as well as the parts that are not functional. Your doctor uses a distinctive camera to track rays emitted by radioactive substance injected in small quantities. In this method, it is possible to detect particular areas with low supply blood.




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