Wednesday 25 May 2016

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.

In some cases, it might not be possible to carry out the exercises during heart tests due to some medical problems or arthritis. In such a situation, the doctor can give some drugs that would cause your heart to work hard just as it would when carrying out an exercise. This form of testing is known as pharmacological stress testing.

Physicians use heart testing methods to diagnose the coronary heart disease or find out its severity. Coronary heart disease arises when a waxy substance known as plaque builds in your coronary arteries, which carry blood rich in oxygen to the heart. When the plaques build up, they narrow the arteries thereby reducing blood flow to the heart muscle. Plaques can also increase blood clot which seriously block the flow of blood through the artery. This is when conditions such as angina or chest pain and heart attack arise.

It may not be possible sometimes to show signs of ailing from a coronary heart disease. Nevertheless, this condition is detectable whenever the heart is working hard. This is because when your heart is working harder during exercises, more oxygenated blood will be required. Narrow arteries to assist the heart function properly may not supply sufficient blood. It is only during activities that symptoms of the coronary heart disease can be seen.

Moreover, detection of other problems may occur during a stress testing. The problems act as indicators that your heart is receiving an insufficient supply of oxygenated blood during exercise. Firstly, it can depict heart rate, blood pressure, or abnormal changes. Besides, abnormal heart rhythm, chest pain, and signs of short breath, during low exercise level can be detected.

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.

Your doctor can also use nuclear stress test. This helps to find out which parts of your heart are healthy and which ones are not. Your doctor injects a small amount of a radioactive substance and then uses a unique camera to see the rays emitted by the substance. This way specific areas in the heart with decreased blood supply are detected.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment