Despite improved awareness of what causes it and advances in treating it, heart disease remains the leading cause of death among men, women, and most ethnic groups in the United States.
Fortunately, heart disease is often preventable, and a stress test may help with that goal.
That’s why our team at Healthstone Primary in Weston, Pembroke Pines, and Davie, Florida, may recommend stress testing as part of chronic disease management or a preventive health care strategy.
Here’s our insight regarding who can benefit from a stress test and how often we may recommend one.
Listening to your heart, checking your blood pressure, and analyzing symptoms you may be experiencing can give us some insight into how well your heart works.
However, to really assess your heart function, we often need a clear picture of how your heart responds to exercise. That’s the underlying goal of a stress test.
During the study, under close supervision, a cardiologist ramps up your heart’s workload by having you walk on a treadmill or ride a stationary bike.
If you can’t exercise long enough to challenge your heart, you can also receive medication, usually via IV, to temporarily “stress” the heart by making it pump harder and faster.
During the study, recording your heart rate, electrical activity, respiration rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels can help identify potential problems.
Sometimes, a stress test includes ultrasound images (echocardiogram) of your heart before and after your workout to provide further details of how well heart valves function as blood flows through your heart’s chambers.
A nuclear stress test is an advanced study using safe, trace amounts of a radioactive substance to “light up” blood flow through the heart. High-definition pictures taken before and after exercise capture detailed images of heart function, including blockages in coronary arteries.
Stress testing is one of the first diagnostic tools we turn to when we suspect a problem, so it’s not necessarily a part of your regular heart exam. Many people never need a stress test.
However, stress testing can help us further explore the issue if you experience symptoms like:
Individuals with diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases that increase their risk for heart disease may also benefit from an exercise stress test.
Your Healthstone Primary provider may also recommend a stress test to determine safe exercise levels following a cardiac procedure or to check whether medication or other therapy has improved your heart health.
However, while you may require a follow-up test after medical or surgical intervention for coronary artery disease, valve replacement, etc., we don’t generally recommend stress tests as part of your routine care.
Schedule a visit at Healthstone Primary today for top-level health care that’s always patient-focused. Call our office or request an appointment online.
