Can a Stress Test Save Your Life?

By admin on April 7, 2010, 10:31 am

Did you know that often the first symptom of heart disease is a heart attack?  If you’re lucky you may have some chest pain or acute shortness of breath to warn you that things may not be 100% healthy.  If you have experienced symptoms that may be linked to heart disease (shortness of breath, chest pain, high blood pressure, dizziness or numbness in your extremities) you might want to consider making an appointment for a stress test.

What is a stress test?A stress test is an exercise test that is performed on a treadmill or a stationary bike while a health professional monitors your heart function and blood pressure.  There are electrodes that are attached to your body and hooked to an EKG (electrocardiogram) machine provided by a used medical equipment company to assess if there are any blockages in your arteries or any irregular heart beat’s during exercise.  A blood pressure sleeve is placed on your arm throughout the test to measure blood pressure.  A health professional will start you at a low pace and gradually bring you up to your target heart rate.

You are at a higher risk of heart disease if…o    You smokeo    You have high blood pressure or hypertensiono    You are obeseo    You have high cholesterolo    You don’t exercise and lead a sedentary lifestyleo    You have Diabetes Mellituso    Anyone in your family has been diagnosed with heart diseaseo    You are over the age of 65Can you prevent heart disease?o    You can quit smoking and start exercising.  Just 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity a day can make a significant difference in your healtho    If you are overweight, talk to your doctor about a health plan to get it back down to a healthy level.o    Eat more fruits and vegetables and reduce your intake of saturated fats.o    If you have high blood pressure, make sure you’re monitoring it and try to get it down through a healthy diet and exercise.

A stress test can tell you about your health but only you can save your life.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.


One Response to “Can a Stress Test Save Your Life?”

  1. [...] C&#1072&#1495 a Stress Test Save Y&#959&#965r Life? | T&#1211&#1077 Stress Institute [...]

Leave a Reply