EKG & Heart Disease

Smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of exercise, poor diet or hereditary factors all may combine to lead to the development of coronary heart disease, or CHD. An electrocardiogram, EKG or ECG, typically is the first line of defense in diagnosing and treating this potentially fatal disease.

Significance

• Coronary heart disease encompasses a variety of ailments that affect the ability of the heart to maintain the crucial function of pumping oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout the body. Coronary arterial disease, or CAD, a condition where blood flow along the arteries is restricted due to clogging and hardening of the arteries, is also commonly referred to as heart disease. The heart also suffers damage by not receiving the oxygen and blood it requires. Additional sub-sectors of CHD include peripheral arterial disease, PAD, a blockage of the arteries in extremities like arms, legs and feet.

Risk Factors

• Unless properly treated, CHD typically leads to heart attack. Environment, lifestyle and heredity each play a role in determining the risk factors associated with heart disease." Some of them can be modified, treated or controlled, and some can't," reports the American Heart Association, or AHA. The AHA also reports that " The more risk factors you have, the greater your chance of developing coronary heart disease. Also, the greater the level of each risk factor, the greater the risk."

Test

• An electrocardiogram is one of the primary diagnostic tools utilized by physicians to determine the presence of a heart problem and usually the first, and simplest, test performed. Electrodes placed along the chest, arms or legs provide data concerning the electrical pulses emanating from the heart and throughout the body. This information is transferred to a graphical readout -called a tracing - that allows doctors to view the results and note abnormalities. The size and length of each part of the EKG serves as the most significant data the test provides, with large variations in different parts of the tracing suggesting some cause for concern.

Types

• The EKG is a relatively simple test, usually performed with the patient lying upon a bed or examination table. However, in some instances, a more advanced form of EKG called an exercise or stress test will be performed. "Rather than lying down, the patient exercises by walking on a treadmill or pedaling a stationary bicycle while the ECG is recorded," reports the University of Virginia Health System. "This test is done to assess changes in the ECG during stress such as exercise."

Identification

• The most common forms of heart disease detected by an EKG include an abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, heart damage brought about by insufficient oxygen reaching the heart muscle, or ischemia, heart attack, also known as myocardial infarction, or problems with the valves of the heart. An EKG normally is conducted in a clinic or hospital in a short period of time, but in some instances, a portable EKG will be attached to the patient for 24 hours to monitor heart activity as they conduct day-to-day activities.