What's involved in a stress test?

Question

I have to go for a stress test on Friday, now what? I smoke, should I be worried?

Answer 1

Stress Test is used to evaluate heart function, a stress test requires that a patient exercises on a treadmill while his or her heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG), and feeling of well being are monitored.

When the body is active, it requires more oxygen than when it is at rest, and, therefore, the heart has to pump more blood. Because of the increased stress on the heart, exercise can reveal coronary problems that are not apparent when the body is at rest. This is why the stress test, though not perfect, remains the best initial, non-invasive, practical coronary test.

The stress test helps doctors determine how well the heart handles the increased demands imposed by physical activity. It is particularly useful for evaluating possible coronary artery disease, detecting inadequate supply of oxygen-rich blood to the tissues of the heart muscle (ischemia), and determining safe levels of exercise in people with existing heart disease.

Precautions

The exercise stress test carries a very slight risk (1 in 100, 000) of causing a heart attack. For this reason, the exercise stress test should be attended by a health care professional with a defibrillator and other emergency equipment on standby.The patient must be aware of the symptoms of a heart attack and stop the test if he or she develops any symptom. The exercise is required to be done hardly for 10 minutes and you need not be worried at all. -

Answer 2

Worried about the test? No, but if you an overweight couch potato, it might be a bit of a challenge for you. Basically, what you do is get on a treadmill and start walking, then they gradually make the treadmill's incline steeper as they also speed it up. All of the while, you're wired to a heart monitor (lots of wires). This is to see how well your heart can take the workout. If you're having some kind of blockage of your arteries, a blip will show up and they'll know approximately where to look for the problem if they decide to look deeper, and those test can be more risky. You'll be sweating for sure before they're done.

Maybe it's time to start your own little workout program girl, before you drop dead. Lose weight, stop smoking, eat right -- you know, all that silly stuff that will keep you ALIVE. Get with the program bra, unless you want to spend your last years with tubes stuck up your nose, being wheeled around by some worker who couldn't get the opening at McDonald's last week and would just as soon park you out back by the dumpster while he takes a smoke break. I'm not kidding either.
Good luck!

Answer 3

If it's an exercise stress test, you run in the treadmile.
If it's a drug stress test, they just give you something to increas your heart rate.
Eitherway, they will be hooking you up to an ECG or a 2D ECHO (don't worry, you wont feel a thing). The test is positive if you develop chest pain or if there are ECG changes brought on by the stress of the excerise or the drug,
If you are a smoker, yes, you should be worried. Quitting smoking is actually the most significant way of reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease. Smoking kills, friend. I'm not just saying that...

Answer 4

usually they hook you up to a lot of leads ( that doesn't hurt at all; it is just like an EKG)
and they ask you to walk or run on a treadmill till you feel you have to stop or until they don't like the readouts from your heart.

No part of it hurts. It helps to wear shorts and a loose t-shirt,
and shoes you can run in. and you might want to carry a diff set of clothes with you, if you sweat a lot when you run. ( no insult intended)

If you can't do that kind of stress test, they might have you do
it on a bicycle.

SHOULD YOU BE WORRIED?
about the test, no. it won't be painful. In the small probability case that it causes angina or a heart attack, they have meds and doctors right there - but that is a teeny tiny risk.

the test gives them info on how your heart and blood vessels are working. After the test, or in a few days, your doc wil talk to you about what the readouts tell them, and if something should be done.

Answer 5

I took one and failed miserably. I got to the hospital, went to the right lab, and changed into a hospital gown over shorts. They attached the EKG wires and put in a trace dye and took some chest x-rays. Then I got to the treadmill and was told to tell them when I wanted to stop. The next thing I knew I was on a cot on the other side of the room with the radiologist on one side and the cardiologist on the other. I ended up getting an ambulance ride to another hospital and taking lots of tests, even getting a heart operation.
Your test should be a lot less dramatic. Don't worry. Start thinking about giving up smoking.

Answer 6

I wouldn't worry. I had a stress test no long ago but i couldn't use the treadmill so I had a different kind done. You will be hooked up to an EKG monitor then put on a treadmill where they will monitor your heart rythem andthen pick up the pace.

Answer 7

From own journey: All that's, is a treadmill on which you walk at a definite %. for a definite volume of time; with a upward thrust interior the fee each and each time. finding on your age, they could even set it on an incline (slightly one or one which you're soft with); the technician takes your vitals at each and each era to work out what result it has on your heart. The report is sent on your heart professional and that's it!! He can tell from the outcomes whether you have heart ailment or no longer..... there is genuinely no soreness in contact, aside from possibly the scientific invoice - LOL:)

Answer 8

yep!!! you should be as worried as I am!!!

Didn't the Cardiologist give you a list of do's and don't's??

Mine says among other things: No Caffeine or tobacco products for 12 hours before the test!!!

No Coffee??? that will definitely give me a grandma of a headache!

No tobacco products for that length of time will only make me slightly grouchy.

They also recommended that I wear a sweat suit and good walking shoes.

No foods within 2.5 hours of the test!!!

As I am diabetic on insulins and orals, that is going to be the major problem for me!!! Not going Hypo might be the major deal!!

Answer 9

Here is what happens.

They inject you with a radioactive dye. Next, they scan your heart to get a before picture. Then you walk or run on a treadmill until you hit a trarget heart rate or until you reach a certain speed on the treadmill. Afterwards, they scan your heart again to see what is different after the stress.

Answer 10

i think you run on a treadmill