What a Stress Test Says About Your Heart Health

You’ve probably felt it when you’ve walked up stairs, carried something heavy, or gone for a jog. When you exert yourself, your heart works harder. Exercise stresses your heart, but not in a worrisome way. The controlled, temporary stress of exertion helps your heart grow stronger. 

That passing stress can also provide some serious insights into your heart health. That’s what a stress test is all about. By monitoring your heart’s performance as you get moving, you can get a range of useful information. 

David Bolon, MD, provides stress tests right here at Manhattan Integrative Cardiovascular in Midtown East, Manhattan, New York City. 

How we can use your stress test results

During a stress test, we attach electrodes to your chest, then have you exercise on a treadmill or stationary bike. By evaluating your heart as you exert yourself, we can gather data to see if:

• Your heart pumps blood as effectively as it should
• Your heart gets sufficient blood from your arteries
• You’re able to exercise at the level that’s appropriate for your age
• Symptoms you’re experiencing could be coming from a cardiovascular issue
• Another condition you have (e.g., diabetes) affects your heart
• You’re healthy enough to undergo a prescribed treatment like surgery

With this information, we can move toward a diagnosis for certain conditions. Stress test results can be particularly helpful in diagnosing:

• Arrhythmia
• Coronary artery disease (CAD)
• Congestive heart failure
• Heart valve disease

We might also recommend a stress test after you’ve had some heart-related treatment or incident. 

Your stress test results help us determine whether the treatment is working as intended. You might get a stress test to see if your stent or angioplasty solved your blood flow issue as intended, for example. 

Or, after a heart attack, the stress test might help us determine if an exercise program is safe for you. 

What to expect at your stress test

Wear comfortable clothing and good sneakers to your stress test. 

Before we get started, we attach electrodes to your chest. Then, you get moving. You pick up your pace until you hit your maximum heart rate, which we calculate before your test. 

As you move, we monitor your:

• Heart’s electrical activity
• Heart rate
• Blood pressure
• Respiratory rate

We may collect additional data during your test. We adjust it depending on what symptoms you’ve been experiencing or what treatment you’ve undergone. We might also add additional testing before or after you exercise, such as an echocardiogram.

In short, we tailor the stress test to you based on what we want to learn about your heart. We can give you more information about what to expect based on what you specifically need.

To schedule a stress test or learn what to expect, call our office at (716) 303-4738 or book your appointment online today.