Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Stress Test As An Important Diagnostic Tool In Medicine

By Benjamin Rowe


Every year millions of patients receive a diagnosis of heart related issues. There are few, if any, age ranges that are not affected in some way. But then again, there are quite obviously specific scenarios and risk factors that target all ages and can be associated with just about anyone. Fortunately, contemporary medicine is very prepared to cope with diagnosing and treating a lot of heart conditions in an effective way. There are plenty of resources to the cardiologist and the stress test has been known to be wonderful in effectively diagnosing heart disease. We will look at various areas as they pertain to stress tests and heart disease.

Stress tests are really important because most times there are not any exterior symptoms of the problem when a person is relaxed. Or, any underlying problems are not detectable unless the heart is in a stressed condition. That really only makes sense in a lot of ways because just like any other mechanical system, the problems are not apparent until there is a higher demand placed on it.

The general stress test is a procedure that is not as hard as other types of stress tests like the nuclear stress test. During a simple test, such as a treadmill or standing bicycle test, the patient's heart must be monitored. This is done via an EKG or ECG monitor. Then the patient walks in a normal manner on the treadmill. Gradually, the pace of the treadmill is increased so the demand on the heart is increased, or the heart is stressed. All this time, a doctor is present as well as other health technicians, to perform the test and be present in the event of any immediate problems. Additionally, during the test, the patient's blood pressure and heart are also observed.

It is extremely important that your heart receives normal and adequate blood supplies during heightened stressful situations and levels of physical activity. Stress tests may be required, though, for other reasons such as judging how effective certain heart medications are for a particular condition. Such medications are often prescribed for angina and other symptom control. Another very important application is to determine how well a specific medical procedure performs like bypass operations or the use of stints. Sometimes people have or get abnormal heart beats and a stress test is a way to evaluate this condition.

A cardiologist will then analyze the pictures to determine if there are any problems, which could be structural or functional. The nuclear stress test image is very helpful because it provides a stark contrast in the images between normal blood supply to the heart and restricted blood supply.




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