Understanding Your Heart Condition With Cardiac Stress Test

By Andrew Wright


Physicians say that some heart problems can be easily diagnosed if your heart is beating faster or working hard. Stress testing, therefore, gives information of your heart and how it works when subjected to physical strain. When performing a cardiac stress test, you walk on a treadmill or you can pedal fixed bike. This causes your heart to work harder as well as beat faster. The heart tests are performed while you exercise.

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 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.

Other problems are as well detectable during the stress test. The problems may suggest that sufficient oxygenated blood is not reaching your heart during exercises. The test primarily indicates blood pressure, heart rate or abnormal changes. Then signs of chest pain and breath shortness can be detected at abnormal heart rhythm and lower levels of exercise.

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.

Various tests can be used by your doctor in Princeton, NJ, although the most common is the one known as exercise stress testing. This test is also called treadmill test and is used to give information on how the heart responds to physical strain. When undertaking this exam, heart rate, blood pressure and electrocardiogram are monitored.

Your doctor may as well employ nuclear stress testing. This is important in finding out parts of the heart that are healthy or unhealthy. The doctor administers an injection with a radioactive substance in a small amount and observes the rays produced by the element using a special camera. Exact areas in your heart with dwindling in blood supply can be detected in this way.




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