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Types of Stress Tests



 Submitted by Medical Health Test Team on May 21, 2010
Stress Testing

Stress is a term used to describe a condition where a person is exposed to extreme psychological pressure due to their work, their family situation, or their relationships with people around them. However, medically, stress is used as a term to describe a situation where a person’s body is put under physical strain in order to raise the heart rate and the blood pressure. Stress testing is a diagnostic procedure that is used to measure the performance of the heart and the body’s muscles during extreme physical strain. The process involves measuring a person’s vital statistics when their body is at rest, followed by the same measurements when the body is exercising. This gives the attending doctor an idea about the performance of the person’s body and is used to diagnose any problem that might exist in the circulation and pumping of the blood around the body. Such a test may also help to diagnose any respiratory problems in the body. Many problems that are diagnostically relevant do not appear when a person is sitting idle. Some problems with the heart, the lungs and the blood circulation system produce symptoms only when they are pushed to the limit. Therefore the stress test has been created in order to push the body physically so that the symptoms may be reproduced. Several heart conditions exist that may cause irregular heartbeats. However, these conditions exist only under strain and the heart might be normal otherwise. Stress tests may also be used to trigger a cardiac event in order to test the body while the event is occurring.

Broadly speaking there are two types of stress tests. The first type uses exercise as the method of causing stress whereas the second type uses medication to create a similar effect on the body. Exercise tests are further divided into tests that use an Electro-Cardiogram (ECG), an Echocardiogram, and a test that uses a radioactive dye which is injected into the body and its movements studied during exercise. This third test gives an idea of the speed and efficiency of blood flow across the body. Non - exercise based methods are used by people who may not be capable of exercising due to physical injury or age. In these tests, a medication is given to make the heart pump as it would under exercise conditions.

The readings from these tests will be analyzed in order to judge the health of a person’s heart and circulatory system. Further medical intervention may be ordered if the statistics show up poorly during such a test.
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