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.

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Cardiac Stress Test

What is a Chemical Stress Test?

A chemical stress test is a test which is performed to find the capability of a person to be able to handle different stressful conditions and their short and long term effects. Some of the physical effects that can be assessed by this test include increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased acidity, and increased bowel movements.

In this test the images of resting and stressed heart are studied, and a radioactive substance is actually injected into the patient. This substance then becomes concentrated in the heart and images of the heart are taken. A gamma camera is used to record the still pictures which are then analyzed in order to determine the functional and structural integrity of the heart.

Preparing for the Test

It is very important that you prepare yourself properly for a chemical stress test. You need to avoid eating and drinking anything prior to the procedure, as this will greatly reduce the likelihood of nausea that may accompany strenuous exercise after a heavy meal. You should also cease taking any prescription medications but you will need to speak to your doctor before doing so in order to avoid stoppage of the medication abruptly because this can be dangerous depending on the drug.

A chemical stress test usually takes anywhere from two to four hours, with the first part of the test taking about an hour and the second part anywhere from a half hour to forty five minutes.

In the Future

Of course you will have to deal with the results of your test no matter what the case, but there are a few things that you will want to keep in mind for the future. The important thing is that you avoid stress as much as you can and keep yourself relaxed and at ease. You should set specific times aside each day to positively relax, and plan and look forward to it. You may also want to begin taking part in a relaxation program such as yoga or meditation.

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Chemical Stress Test

Procedure

If you go through a nuclear stress test, doctor will inject a radioactive body into your bloodstream. As soon as the radioactive body will reach your bloodstream, it will be mixed inside the blood and takes a trip to heart. Now a special type of scanner is used to monitor the existence of the radioactive body inside your heart. It now produces the image of the heart muscle. If there is any inadequate blood supply in your heart, it can be identified with light spot, since the radioactive body is unable to reach there in an adequate volume.

Types of Tests

There are different types of nuclear stress test is available today. One of them is myocardial perfusion scan, in which, doctors will ask you to practice exercise on a stationary bicycle or treadmill. As soon as you will reach at the maximum heart beat, the injection is administered to you. Images are taken just following your exercise session as well as few hours later. This test detects the quality of the blood flow into the heart muscle in addition to the narrowness present in the coronary arteries, hence the likelihood of coronary artery disease.

Another nuclear stress test is known as multiple gated acquisition (MUGA) scan, a non-invasive nuclear stress test. In this type of nuclear stress test, an injection is administered prior to the exercising schedule. Images of the heart are taken in both pre and post exercising phase. This nuclear stress test is able to detect the quality of the motion of the heart and its ability to pump out the blood, or in other words, ejection fraction. In addition, this test is able to detect whether there is any damage occurred in the heart wall.

A special type of medicated injection is administered in such cases when the individual is not able to do exercise. This injection does the same job and increases the blood flow in the heart muscle. Nuclear stress test is beneficial in the terms that the report of this test helps the doctors and physicians to detect the problem in a comprehensive manner and they become able to plan the treatment strategy for the concerned patient. A special care must be taken for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

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Nuclear Stress Test

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.

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Treadmill Stress Test