holter and stress test

[Gary Jackson]

does being overweight affect the results of the stress test and holter monitor?

thank you

[Burton Borrok]

Hi Gary,
It’s me again. Yes – being overweight can affect your stress test, holter monitor, - and you. If you’re packing too much weight it could cause your heart to work even harder. Of course the stress of dieting can also cause problems, and make your heart work harder.

In this old world of ours, everything can affect everything. The best I can advise is to eat small, healthy meals throughout the day. (By the way, for what it’s worth – I’m overweight too.)
Burt

[Lisa Salberg]

Your height, weight and gender are looked at when evaluating the results of you testing.

Lisa

[Gary Jackson]

so if someone that is 10 pounds overweight and someone who is 40 pounds overweight ( same height and age) will be expected to perform the samem or because one is 30 pounds heavier this is taken in consideration with performance?

I guess what i am asking is... will the doctors be able to tell via the tests if one is overweight and out of shape or if the heart weakness and is from the HCM?

thanx again

I will be calling lisa tommorw..

[mtlieb]

Gary,

The docs will have a pretty good idea of what's caused by your heart issues, and what may or may not be caused by other things. No worries. These folks perform stress tests day in and day out and only on heart patients, who for various reasons can tend to be a bit on the heavy side anyway. Also, the endurance factor is only one part of the test so don't be overly concerned about how long you can 'make it' on the treadmill. Whether you go one minute or ten, they will still learn what they need to know about your heartrate, rhythms, blood pressure response, etc.

Don't put any undo stress on yourself (sorry about the pun) prior to the test. For the most part, they just want to put you up on that treadmill and see what you can do. There are HCM'ers in their twenties who are in fine shape otherwise, but can barely last a few minutes on a treadmill, and there are HCM'ers in their 50's and up who can practically jog it for the ten minutes. That's not what's important.

Let us know how everything goes.

Jim

[NoCrash]

Gary,

Agree with all the above. Add: if they measure O2 intake during the test they can also measure "efficiency" or rate of oxygen uptake with respect to the amount of work being performed/energy being expended which is a function of weight. Along with blood pressure during the test, I think this provides a good measure of your heart/pulmonary health independently of whether you are "in shape" or not.

Don't worry about endurance (I lasted 3 minutes and the test certainly provided significant diagnostic results). Wear some comfortable clothes (change into shorts and t-shirt for the test?) and expect to be wired for an EKG during the test. No big deal.

Regards,

Rob Thomas

[NoCrash]

Oh yeah, you asked about Holter monitor, too.

The Holter monitor provides an extended version of an EKG and is useful in checking for arrythmias (at least in my case). I don't think weight affects the recording but it does impact the heart function!

Hopefully the facility providing the monitor provides you with one of the newer models. As of last December, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN had solid-state models about the size of an iPod Mini. My local cardio has units that are sized more like the original iPod and older ones that were even larger.

My diet preference is Weight Watchers.

Regards,
Rob