How Stress Tests Are Able To Improve Medical Treatments Today
You need to have a cardiac stress test done? If so, don’t worry! They are not that bad at all. The test is over before you know it, and the only thing you’ll regret is the exercise (especially if you’re out of shape!).
But the brief exercise is an important part of the test because your heart needs to be stressed. How healthy your heart is will only be determined if it is stressed so they can see how it is actually functioning. The specifics, and generalities, of stress tests will be discussed in this article. Let’s begin.
As we’ve covered in other articles, your cardiologist will have to select the type of stress test to administer. Some are not as complicated as others and the one that is used most often is the treadmill stress test, which is also a good example. An example of a more complicated stress test is the nuclear stress test. It simple refers to the illumination of your blood using radioactive energy emitted by special tracers. If you need a treadmill stress test, then all you’ll be doing is walking on a treadmill like you’re exercising. The idea is to make sure stress is placed on your heard and the rest of your cardiac system by elevating your heart rate. You’ll be all wired up for the electrocardiogram (EKG), and a doctor will be present to make sure all goes well.
Many problems may show up for the cardiovascular system from time to time. If you have any problem that requires medication, stress tests are usually recommended or required. This does not mean there’s always a problem, and it may be to see what the medication is doing. Different medications are often prescribed after these tests as things are discerned from the results. Diagnosing whether or not improvements have been made can only be shown through tests for your heart. There are many stress tests available, each catering to a different type of patient and condition. Post-op patients are usually given a stress test if the doctor needs to monitor how well their heart is getting along. The doctor can see how successful, or unsuccessful, the treatment actually was.
Unless you’re showing serious and strong symptoms of cardiovascular disease, you may want to get a second opinion. So if you don’t trust one diagnosis, you should certainly get another. This matters and you need to know that few if any tests are 100% accurate and reliable 100% of the time. More than likely, if your cardiologist or physician is thinking in your best interest, they will have you do a second opinion. Some doctors are afraid of being sued, so keep that in mind. What usually happens is the second doctor will agree with the first doctor just to take the most conservative position possible. Although you would have to repeat the stress test, and image diagnostic test that you took it, they will confirm (or conflict with) the first test results. The differences between stress tests lie in the type of data the data obtains from the test. Imaging tests are generally used where the risk is greater. If a simple EKG reading is desired from a treadmill stress test, there’s a good chance things aren’t quite as severe as they could be.
Posted in Health 