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805943 tn?1238093647

Questions about Heart tests

I am a 40 year old woman and last week I spent 2 days in the hospital for chest discomfort.  I had all the tests, echo, EKG, blood tests, urine tests and this week I had a Cardiolite stress test. My cholesterol is normal but the good part is too low and my tryglycerides are in the 300's and found out my A1C is 6.1 was told that is too high and my fasted blood sugar test was too high.  My stress test was a little harder than I thought it would be, within a min my legs were burning like I had run a marathon and I could hardly breathe.  My Dr. said the lower portion of my heart was showing up abnormal but he wasn't worried because it usually is in women.  The nurse at the Dr.'s office asked me if they had told me I had a heart attack and I said No and she just shook her head.  I'm going to see a cardiologist on Tuesday to get the results of the Cardiolite portion of my stress test but want to know should I be a little more worried then the DR. told me to be?  I'm not getting any real answers and I'm getting stressed out about this.  I'm confused.
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326176 tn?1239515689
What does a Holter monitor indicate? In order to understand which of the malfunctions of the heart the test is performed? Please enlighten me on this.
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592969 tn?1248325405
Sounds like you should be concerned and ask your cardiologist questions regarding your heart.  It is not normal to have burning in your legs during a stress test and it is not normal for the lower portion of the heart to show up as abnormal in women.  If the lower part of your heart is not working correctly, it most likely had been damaged.  Your triglyercides need to come down.  This can be done with cholesterol medication and a strict diet of very limited meat and lots of fresh vegetables.  Brown rice is good, oatmeal, salmon with Omega 3 is healthy for the heart.  Being that your blood sugar is high puts you at a higher risk for heart disease.  Your HDL needs to be raised which can also be done with the cholesterol medication.  Your LDL should be 100 or lower (some doctors like to see around 79 or a little lower).  Your doctor may want you to take a 81mg low dose aspirin a day to prevent artery blockage.  Blockage sticks to inflammed arteries therefore causing blockage.  Aspirin brings down the inflammation.  Talk to your cardiologist and make it clear that you want some straight answers regarding what is wrong with your heart, what medications you need to take now, and diet.  You need correct answers from your doctor, so that you can improve your cholesterol with diet and medication.  Heart medication is the best way to treat heart disease if you catch it early.  Heart medication taking correctly will avoid the visits to the hospital.  I hope you get some good answers from your cardiologist and start feeling better soon.  Many people with heart disease can live a life, but need to watch their diet to stay healthy.  Take care and try to avoid stress. You can ask your cardiologist also about taking a multiple B vitamin.  A lot of people are not getting enough vitamin B12 or Niacin in their diet.    
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