Do you know why screening tests are performed on people? It is done to detect the disease before the symptoms actually begin. Heart screening or cardiac screening has been the most successful amongst all the other screening tests because heart diseases hardly have any symptoms like the other diseases. Eventually, when the disease starts to grow, then the patient can sense some common symptoms, but during the initial stages, it is rather difficult. Heart screening is done to evaluate several measures and the first and most important is to see the amount of cholesterol that is being carried in the blood. High levels of cholesterol will lead to building up of arteries, and that can make its way to the liver that may lead to face the very dangerous consequences. The screening is also helpful to find out the glucose level in the blood. This is done to check whether a patient suffering from diabetes is having any connection with the heart or not because diabetic patients have a tendency to worry and become tense very easily. This affects the heart to a great extent. Together with the blood sugar level, the screening will also help to detect the blood pressure levels. This has a direct connection with the heart because the force with which the blood hits the artery walls can actually lead to a person becoming seriously ill. The force of the blood goes out of control sometimes for patients suffering high blood pressure.
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Depending on what the results of the screening tests are, the doctors would analyze if there is any risk factors that are involved or not and then they will recommend some additional tests that have to be done to confirm if the patient is suffering from any serious heart disease. EKG or ECG that is also known as Electrocardiography is a very common test that heart patients have to undergo. It generally measures the electrical activity of the heart and tells you the rhythm of the heart rate. The doctors would see if the rhythm of the heartbeat is perfect or if there are any disruptions in some places. Another test that is recommended by doctors is exercise cardiac stress test or exercise electrocardiogram. In this test, you will have to pedal a stationary bike or walk on a trade mill, and the difficulty levels will be increased step by step. With this change in difficulty level, the blood pressure, electrical activity of the heart and the heart rate and rhythm will be monitored. This helps in determining if the blood flow to the heart is adequate and the level of stress that the heart is facing. Those patients who are unable to exercise will directly go into medication, and normal treatment will follow. For more information about heart screening, you can visit the website of London Cardiovascular Clinic.
