Who Should Have a Stress Test and How Often?

You rely on your heart every second of your life, but do you know what’s going on inside? Cardiovascular issues can develop without any obvious signs, making them difficult to detect during regular check-ups.

At Bridgewater Primary Care & Cardiology, LLC, our expert team offers advanced cardiac testing, including stress echocardiogram (echo) testing and nuclear stress testing, to gain a comprehensive understanding of your heart’s function.

These specialized tests provide valuable information about how well your heart works under different conditions, helping to reveal problems with blood flow, blood pressure, and the heart’s rhythm. Read on to find out who should have a stress test and how often we may recommend one.

Subtle symptoms that may warrant a stress test

Almost half of adults in the United States (48%) are living with some form of cardiovascular disease, and often, it creeps up without any major warning signs. That’s why it’s so important to tune into those subtle signals your body might be sending.

Pay attention to these not-so-obvious symptoms that may indicate an underlying issue with your heart:

• Shortness of breath during everyday activities
• Discomfort in your chest, which may feel like pressure, tightness, or heaviness
• A rapid or irregular heartbeat
• Excessive fatigue or weakness with no clear cause
• Dizziness or lightheadedness, particularly with physical exertion

A stress test can help us see exactly what’s going on, so we can catch any potential issues early and proactively address them.

Who else is a candidate for stress testing?

Even if you’re feeling perfectly fine, we may recommend a stress test if you have certain risk factors for heart disease, such as an underlying condition like diabetes or a family history of cardiac issues.

If you have a known heart condition and want to start exercising or increasing your activity level, a stress test can show us how your heart handles the extra workload. This way, we can make sure it’s safe for you to get active and help you build a healthy routine that fits your specific needs.

We also use these tests to see how well your current treatment plan is working. By watching how your heart functions under stress, we can determine whether your medications or other interventions are effective and make any necessary changes to your care.

What is the test like, and how often should I have one?

The most common type of stress test is the exercise stress test, where we monitor the heart’s activity while you walk on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike for a short duration. If you’re unable to exercise, we administer medication that makes your heart work harder, mimicking the effects of physical activity.

A stress echo test adds ultrasound images of your heart before and immediately after exercising to see its size, shape, and how well it moves. For a nuclear stress test, we inject a small amount of radioactive tracer into your bloodstream that allows us to see how blood flows to the heart, both at rest and during activity.

How often you need a stress test depends on your specific situation. If we’re investigating symptoms and your test results are normal, we might look into other potential causes or keep an eye on things with periodic follow-ups.

However, abnormal test results may indicate the presence of heart disease or that your heart isn’t strong enough to take on the additional strain of exercise or surgery. In these cases, repeat stress tests may be necessary to manage your condition and make sure your treatments are working effectively.

Don’t wait for a crisis. Keep your heart healthy with expert care from the experts at Bridgewater Primary Care & Cardiology, LLC, in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Schedule a consultation today to discuss your individual risk factors and find out if stress testing is right for you.