01 Oct What A Treadmill Test Can Really Tell You About Your Heart
Heart Symptom Notice: A treadmill test is a scheduled investigation, not an emergency service. If you have chest pain or pressure at rest, chest discomfort that lasts more than a few minutes or keeps returning, severe shortness of breath, fainting, or chest pain with sweating, nausea, or pain spreading to the arm, jaw, or back, call emergency services immediately (995 in Singapore). Exercise testing is not suitable for everyone, and your doctor will decide whether it is safe and appropriate for you.
A treadmill test sounds almost comically ordinary. You walk on a moving belt while someone watches your heart. Yet the useful part is not the walking itself. It is what changes inside your body as the effort increases: your heart rate, rhythm, symptoms and ability to keep going.
Before booking, it helps to understand what the test can and cannot show.
If you are considering a treadmill test in Singapore, it helps to know what the test is actually trying to discover. It is not simply a fitness challenge and it is not a pass or fail examination. The value comes from seeing what your heart does under controlled stress and then putting those findings together with your symptoms and medical history.
[caption id="attachment_76403" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Photo by Los Muertos Crew[/caption]