News from Cenacle Treatment Center

Dr's warned over stress tests

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel that makes recommendations to doctors, is urging Drs not to perform stress tests on their patients over certain heart irregularities, only if the Drs believes they have symptoms or heart disease.

What is a stress test?

In the classic exercise stress test, a person walks on a treadmill that makes the heart work progressively harder. The heart's rate and electrical rhythms are monitored, along with blood pressure and the appearance of symptoms like chest discomfort or fatigue. Abnormalities in blood pressure, heart rate, or heart rhythms, or worsening symptoms could point to coronary artery disease: fatty deposits (plaques) that reduce the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel that makes recommendations to doctors, has urged doctors not to routinely offer exercise stress testing to people without symptoms or strong risk factors for coronary artery disease.

Poor Cardiac health & Drug reactions

In 2012 a report by the NHS outlined that drinking grapfruit jucie while taking certain medications such as cholesterol stopping statins can have a detrimental effect on the heart.Do not drink grapefruit juice if you’re taking simvastatin. Grapefruit juice increases the level of simvastatin in your blood and makes side effects more likely. Calcium channel blockers are medicines that relax the muscles that make up the walls of your arteries. They’re used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and coronary heart disease. Grapefruit juice interacts with some calcium channel blockers and increases the level of the medicine in your blood. If you’re taking any of the medicines below, avoid drinking large quantities though an occasional glass is safe:

  • amlodipine
  • felodipine
  • isradipine
  • lacidipine
  • lercanidipine
  • nicardipine
  • nifedipine
  • nimodipine
  • verapamil

More on grape fruit and drug reactions

Related Articles

A single pill can defeat heart disease?
Stronger heart with varied diet
Heart disease affecting poorer older people
Statins are welcomed by british heart foundation,but why?
Shift work increases risk of heart health
Balance of good fats & bad fats aid in good cardiac health

Follow Us

        

©2006-2017 Cenacle Treatment Centre All rights reserved. Redesigned by ROQOS.