Cardiac stress tests are nothing to get anxious about and they don’t take all that long either. The only unpleasant thing about doing one of these tests is that there’s exercise involved. Otherwise, you’re in and out fast.
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. Cardiac stress tests are the focus of this article. We will bring up both general and specific topics.
In other articles, we’ve explained how a cardiologist has a number of stress tests to choose from. You’ll find some stress tests are not as complex as others and a good example that is used quite frequently is the treadmill stress test. The nuclear stress test is the perfect example of a more complex variant. Special radioactive tracers are used to illuminate your blood by emitting specific forms of energy. The treadmill stress test is akin to engaging in exercise as all you’ll be doing is walking on a treadmill. This helps to increase you heart rate and places stress on your entire cardiovascular system. You’ll be closely monitored by a doctor to ensure there are no issues and you’ll also be linked to an electrocardiogram or EKG.
Legal action taken against medical doctors in the United States is epidemic. Doctors protect themselves as mush as they can. Sometimes unnecessary tests like cardiac imaging stress tests are ordered even though a patient is just fine. Keep in mind there are many things and conditions that can cause heart palpitations and even some minor angina. Chronic stress and other behaviors like smoking and heavy coffee drinking can produce angina. Even the writer of this article will not tell you to avoid a stress test if you’re feeling good otherwise. Professional medical advice, and choosing the best path, are decisions that you should always take seriously.
Unless you’re showing serious and strong symptoms of cardiovascular disease, you may want to get a second opinion. It’s always better to get a second opinion if you’re not sure about the first one you were given. Having accurate and reliable tests is very important. They should be 100% correct. More times than not, your cardiologist or doctor will tell you that a second opinion is probably a good idea after all. On the other hand, you have to consider that doctors are afraid of being sued. Unfortunately, doctors try to agree with one another. Taking the conservative position is the path of least resistance in most cases. You might want to go with a second stress test for imaging diagnostic test just to make sure the results were correct.
The important point about stress tests is they are very useful for finding out what’s happening with your heart and overall cardiovascular system. Another opinion may be something that you will feel comfortable with getting. You will know so much more info once you have a second opinion, so this might be your best option.