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Exercise Stress Testing

An exercise stress test is commonly conducted by health professionals to determine cardiac function of people with heart disease risk factors.

exercise stress test exercise stress test

procedure: A progressive and maximum exercise test (starting from a walking pace and gradually increasing pace) is performed while the electrical impulses from the heart tissue are recorded by surface electrodes places on the chest wall.

equipment required: Exercise machine such as a treadmill or exercise bike, a 12-lead ECG machine and leads, sticking tape, clips and other sundries as required.

analysis: Specialist training is required to interpret exercise ECG traces. Many of the stress testing machines can perform basic analysis, though these should not be relied on fully and a well trained human eye should look at the results before any conclusions are made.

comments: See your doctor is you think you need a stress test performed. A stress test can pick up early changes in the heart function indicating potential heart disease. The test is also known as a cardiac stress test.

qualifications: Stress tests are either performed by a medical practitioner, or a qualified health specialist with a doctor nearby.



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Eating well and exercising are important for everyone to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We also have a list of health tests used to monitor your health, and reviews of health products.

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