You may have heard about, or even participated in, a cardiac stress test in Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Nanuet, New City, Nyack, NY, and the surrounding areas. These tests are designed to provide real-world data on how your cardiac system and other markers hold up, and are compared against other results from people in your age group. At Cardiology of Hudson Valley we routinely work with patients on performing cardiac stress tests to help detect a variety of health issues, including congestive heart failure, heart valve disease, congenital heart disease, and other issues. In fact, some high-risk occupations are required to have these stress tests to verify that they are still in good health to perform their jobs. And like anything else, once you know you have the potential for an issue, you can take steps to help prevent it and get into better health. Contact us today to schedule your cardiac stress test and learn what the results mean for your health.
What Kind of Stress Test Is Used
Most of us are familiar with the exercise stress test, which is where a patient is hooked up to a few monitoring devices while they are on a treadmill. Over a period of time the treatmill increases in speed while the various devices monitor the results, until a cooldown period is initiated. This kind of test is used for a variety of different cardiac issues, and can sometimes be used in connection with an echocardiogram to provide imaging along with the test results.
There is also a nuclear stress test where a radioactive tracer is injected into a patients vein and the blood flow is monitored through the heart. Special imaging cameras are used for this test, and this is a way to assess the effectiveness of previous treatments without being subjected to more invasive tests. Any stress test that is done is designed to provide important insights for a patient as well as lead to appropriate treatments.
Just Because the Test Is Normal
While the results of the test may come back as ‘normal’, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take steps to ensure that you don’t develop heart disease or other issues. A cardiac stress test is really just a snapshot in time of how your cardiac system is operating at the moment. And while it is no longer recommended to do these kinds of tests regularly, they can provide important diagnostic data to help doctors and patients understand the best path forward should treatment be needed.
When you need a cardiac stress test to help provide additional health data in Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Nanuet, New City, Nyack, NY, and the surrounding areas, you can turn to our trusted team at Cardiology of Hudson Valley. Contact us today to schedule your cardiac stress test and get answers to all of your health questions.