Importance of Early Heart Screening: ECG, Echo & TMT

How would you know your heart is performing well after a certain age? There are performance matrices, which use quantifiable data (metrics) to evaluate the performance.

For example, in any sport or game, the key metrics are strength, speed, agility, and power. Similarly, your heart has similar metrics, such as heart rate, electrical activity, blood pressure, pulse rate, and ejection fraction (how much blood the left ventricle pumps out with each contraction), to know its performance.

The best heart doctor may recommend early heart screening tests like ECG vs Echo, and TMT to evaluate its health or performance. Let's explore them in more detail.

What Is a Heart Screening

It includes tests that can find heart disease before a person has any symptoms of it. It can include the following screening tests to know exactly how your heart is performing:

Blood tests
Electrocardiogram (EKG)
Exercise stress test
Echocardiogram
Calcium score test
Coronary CT angiogram
Cardiac MRI
Carotid ultrasound

Why Heart Screening Is Important

Because it offers the following benefits:

Early identification of hidden heart issues.
Lowers the risk of a major cardiac event.
Help track the effectiveness of treatment.
Gives you a personalized heart-healthy diet and care.

What Age Should You Start Heart Screenings?

The best heart doctor may recommend starting to get heart screening tests and risk assessments for coronary heart disease around age 20 if you do not have any of the risk factors.

Let's explore these 3 tests in detail: ECG, Echo, and TMT.

A. ECG/EKG Screening for Heart Health

It is a quick, noninvasive diagnostic test that records your heart’s electrical activity.

It may help disguise the following condition:

Abnormal heart rhythm
Abnormal electrical conduction
Heart attack
Enlarged heart chambers
Heart damage
Poor blood flow to your heart muscle due to coronary artery disease
An issue with the heart valves
Congenital heart disease

B. TMT Test for Heart Screening

This test is also known as:

Treadmill Test
Exercise Stress Test
Treadmill Stress Test
Cardiac Stress Test
Stress Test
Stress ECG

It is a form of cardiovascular stress testing that generally uses electrocardiography along with blood pressure monitoring and exercise. This test generally involves a treadmill or bicycle.

What Happens During a TMT Test?

The professional may attach electrodes to your chest. This helps record your heart’s electrical activity or ECG.
The best cardiac doctor will record resting heart rate, blood pressure, and ECG before initiating the test.
They will instruct you on the instructions to walk on a treadmill. Then, slowly the speed and titles will be increased to increase exercise intensity.
Continuous monitoring of vital parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, and ECG will be done.
The stress test will end when you reach your target heart rate, show symptoms, or if any unusual signs appear.

What TMT Test Helps Detect

It helps detect the following conditions:

Blockages or narrowing in the arteries of the heart.
Decreased blood flow to the heart muscle.
Cardiac muscle or valve issues.

C. Echo Test for Heart Disease

It is an ultrasound test for the heart that uses high-frequency sound waves to form moving pictures of the heart as it beats.

Why Best Cardiologists Order Echocardiograms

To find the reason behind the ongoing symptoms.
To confirm the diagnosis.
Evaluate your heart function.
Monitor the treatment outcome.

What Does Echo Help Diagnose?

It helps diagnose the following conditions:

Blood clots
Congenital heart disease
Cardiomyopathy
Heart tumors
Infective endocarditis
Pericarditis
Thoracic aortic aneurysm
Valve disease

When to Get These Heart Screening Tests

Your doctor may recommend it if you experience symptoms like chest pain, dizziness, lightheadedness, or confusion, or a pounding, skipping, or fluttering heartbeat.

What are the Risks of an ECG, Echo, and TMT?

There are no known risks for ECG and Echo. However, TMT can cause temporary discomfort like fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain, etc. However, under medical supervision, all these tests are safe.

Cost of ECG, Echo, and TMT in India

The exact cost may vary based on the location, hospital, advanced technology used, and various other factors.

ECG Costs: ₹200-₹400
Echo Costs: ₹800-₹2,500
TMT Costs: ₹2,000-₹4,000

What Is the First Test to Check Your Heart?

ECG (Electrocardiogram) is the first heart screening that a cardiologist can recommend.

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