How a Cardiac Stress Test Works
A cardiac stress test is an evaluation of how much blood flow our heart receives during a physical work out. This medical test also shows how much oxygen and blood gets to the heart. Although, the test is called a stress test it has no relevance whatsoever to emotional or mental stress. The stress being measured in this medical test is the stress the heart receives when the individual is working out or running.
What Happens During a Cardiac Stress Test
The patient usually walks and then runs on a treadmill while connected to an electrocardiogram machine with the standard ten connections around the body during the cardiac stress test. The patient can also be attached to an intravenous drip, instead of the treadmill, that will have medication that will stimulate exercise.
The speed of the treadmill will change every three minutes while the IV drip will add more drugs or medication at about the same time. Technicians and doctors will be around during the cardiac stress test to monitor the patient. As soon as the patient feels tired the cardiac stress test will be stopped and the results will be diagnosed and reviewed by cardiologists or certified doctors.
Conditions Diagnosed by the Cardiac Stress Test
The cardiac stress test is expected to be able to show medical practitioners if the patient has some form of heart disease or abnormalities in the heart. This is the initial test given to patients whom doctors suspect might have a kind of heart disease. This suspicion will be due mainly on the symptoms exhibited by the individual such as being a smoker, having a family history of hear disease, high cholesterol levels, diabetes and many others.
You can expect to have some form of minor side effect during or after the cardiac stress test. This is because some people who are not used to exercising, the cardiac stress test can result to nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations and other symptoms related to the circulatory system.
Other risks of doing a cardiac stress test can be a heart attack or a stroke but these are really very farfetched idea since you will be in the very capable hands of the medical practitioners who will monitor your condition. Many doctors recommend a cardiac stress test for patients whom they suspect to have underlying conditions involving the heart. An annual testing will be recommended for those who are discovered to have heart disease or heart abnormalities.
