stress test

[nelly1953]

is a 4 minute stress test on a treadmill enough to determine any heart disease?

[Flycaster305]

It certainly is, if you reached your target heart rate.  When I have had stress tests, I've reached my target heart rate in less than four minutes and problems were found (and fixed).  What was found during your stress test?  

[nelly1953]

thankyou for responding, yes had the test reached my target heart rate , but didnt feel like i had exerted myself enough to give my heart a real test, thankfully nothing showed, but wish i had some answers to the chest pain that goes down my left arm, and cardioligist says its nothing, well its not nothing its very disturbing actually

put me on lipitor as  bad cholestrol is 7

oh well if i cark it least i know nothing was wrong..lol

[mammo]

No, not always.  If you are having pain, further testing needs to be done to rule out heart problems.  Then if all is fine, move on to whatever else it could be.  Many people have died after a negative stress test.

[joanincarolina]

Do not ignore pain going into your left armpit and down your arm especially if it is accompanied by shortness of breath and strange heart palpitations. Get more testing if you have these signs. A stress test reaching your projected heart rate is only one part of a big picture. And even additional tests may not show much but your signs may continue. You are a woman and if I assume that 1953 is your birth year then I'd be paying close attention and watching lipids, blood pressure, and taking control of listening to your body. Joan.

[kenkeith]

You didn't state why your doctor ordered a stress test.  An Echo Stress Test or a Nuclear Stress Test, if the doctor is suspecting coronary artery disease. However, a regular stress may be sufficient in stable patients or those with a low suspicion of coronary artery disease who are being assessed for exercise tolerance (for example, prior to undergoing a structured exercise or rehab program).  If you are/were experiencing chest pains an EKG Stress test is not reliable and probably should have had a Nuclear Stress Test.  The test provides a perfusion of a dye through your vessels at rest and with exercise.  Would be or should be able to see any blockages.  Blockages would cause chest pain.

The statistics for a regular treadmill stress test for diagnosing important disease is approximately 67% or 2/3 rd of patients with coronary artery disease. The accuracy is lower (about 50%) when patients have narrowing in a single coronary artery or higher (greater than 80%) when all three major arteries are involved. Approximately 10% of patients may have a "false-positive" test (when the result is falsely abnormal in a patient without coronary artery disease).

[nurse_04]

My stess test was only 3 minutes and I also felt like it was nothing ..But then again my heartrate when walking across the room is high so wasnt surprised. I also had a negative stress test but its more of an electrical problem that I think my doctors are leaning towards just wanted to rule out other things first. I think you should keep trying to find answers.  I have battled for 2 years and finally I found a cardiologist that seems to want to find out whats wrong not just treat the symptoms...

[ed34]

No single test reveals all possible problems. However, based on your symptoms (if any) your cardiologist will usually put you through the ones which will confirm(or not) his personal opinion regarding your condition.
A treadmill test is on average 67% accurate at detecting CAD which isn't great accuracy.
If ONE artery is affected the accuracy is even less, around 50%, more like the flip of a coin. If ALL three arteries are affected the it becomes better, around 80%-90%.
Treadmill stress tests are usually requested for a patient for :

Patients with symptoms or signs that are suggestive of coronary artery diseases (CAD).
Patients with significant risk factors for CAD.
To evaluate exercise tolerance when patients have unexplained fatigue and shortness of breath.
To evaluate blood pressure response to exercise in patients with borderline hypertension.
To look for exercise-induced serious irregular heart beats