What is a Treadmill Stress Test?
People whom doctors suspect may have problems in their circulatory system may be recommended to have a treadmill stress test. A treadmill stress test is a form of medical testing wherein the individual is attached to various medical instruments which help to monitor the individual's performance.
The patient is asked to initially walk and then eventually run on the treadmill while being monitored by the various medical equipments attached to him. The speed of the treadmill usually increases every three minutes that the patient is on the treadmill.
The treadmill stress test will last as long as the patient can endure the stress of the physical work out or until the medical practitioner has found the results that he is looking for. People with possible heart disease are prime candidates for this kind of medical testing. There are actually many other different kinds of tests that can be done to possible heart patients but the treadmill stress test is one f the most efficient and less troublesome.
Results of a Treadmill Stress Test
The importance of having a treadmill stress test lies in the fact that this medical test can corroborate the suspicions of your cardiologist or any other doctor regarding your heart's state of health. The blood flow and oxygen floe to and from your heart can be monitored by the treadmill stress test.
Any irregularities and abnormalities in the way that your heart functions will be recorded. The results of your treadmill stress test will be read by your cardiologist and then he will diagnose you with whatever he has seen in your test results.
Risks of Getting a Treadmill Stress Test
There are actually little risks of harming yourself when you go through a treadmill stress test. The risks usually include gasping and running out of breath resulting to nausea and dizziness. Other risks may be irregular heart betas, palpitations and possible chest pain during the stress test. A treadmill stress test can also rarely lead to a heart attack or a stroke but only in very rare occasions.
If a heart attack or a stroke occurs during a stress test, there are doctors and other medical practitioners who can attend to the patient immediately. These occurrences are not actually commonplace because the equipment that monitor the patient during the treadmill stress test will allow the doctors monitoring the patient to see the progress of the patient as he walks or runs in the treadmill.
