When Your Doctor Says Those Three Words
“We need tests.”
These three words can make your stomach drop, especially when you feel perfectly fine. Now that you think more about it, maybe you’ve been feeling a little more tired than usual and you recall the odd flutter in your chest you brushed off that week. Suddenly, you’re scheduling appointments to have a cardiovascular test, and you’re wondering: what does this mean?
Most people only learn about cardiovascular tests when they or a loved one needs them. A cardiovascular test, whether it’s an EKG, stress test, or patient home monitoring, helps give your doctor a clearer picture of your heart’s health. This blog will help give readers a basic understanding of what a cardiovascular test is, so they can approach their cardiovascular test with clarity and confidence.
Why Doctors Order A Cardiovascular Test
Doctors use a cardiovascular test to gather information about your heart, guiding decisions that can protect your long-term health. Sometimes, a cardiovascular test is ordered because you felt a noticeable change or symptom, like chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations, or unusual fatigue. Other times, it’s preventative. For example, if you have risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease, a cardiovascular test can provide early insights that enable proactive care.
No matter the reason a cardiovascular test was ordered, the goal remains the same: to give you and your doctor the information needed to make confident, timely decisions about your heart health.
What Actually Is a Cardiovascular Test?
A Cardiovascular test is any procedure that evaluates how well your heart and blood vessels are working. While the tests themselves may look very different, they generally fall into five main categories:
- Electrical Tests
A cardiovascular test that measures the heart’s rhythm and electrical activity. The most common is the electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), which records your heart’s electrical signals for a short duration typically in a physician’s office or hospital. Longer-term options, such as Holter monitors or mobile cardiac telemetry (MCT) / mobile outpatient cardiac telemetry (MCOT), track your heart’s electrical signals for days or weeks. This type of patient home monitoring helps capture irregular rhythms that may not show up in a brief office visit. - Structural Tests
A cardiovascular test that looks at the heart’s anatomy and how well it pumps. Echocardiograms (ultrasound of the heart) can show whether your valves are opening and closing properly, if the heart muscle is weakened, or if chambers are enlarged. Imaging tests can also identify damage from a prior heart attack. - Blood Tests
A cardiovascular test from a simple blood draw that can reveal risk factors and hidden problems. Cholesterol and blood sugar levels point to long-term cardiovascular risk, while specialized markers such as troponin can detect heart damage. Other labs help doctors monitor inflammation, strain, or genetic risks. - Functional or Stress Tests
A cardiovascular test that measures how your heart responds to exertion. A treadmill stress test, for example, records your heart rhythm and blood pressure during exercise. In some cases, medication is used to “stress” the heart for patients who can’t exercise. Stress imaging (like nuclear stress tests) adds another layer by showing blood flow to the heart muscle under pressure. - Advanced Imaging
A cardiovascular test with newer technologies provides a highly detailed view of the cardiovascular system. CT angiography can highlight blocked arteries, cardiac MRI can show scar tissue or inflammation, and nuclear scans can map blood flow. These tools are often used when more traditional tests don’t provide enough information.
Together, these five categories give doctors a comprehensive view, helping them catch problems early. Patient home monitoring with devices like Biotricity’s solutions eliminates the inconvenience of repeated office visits while providing more comprehensive data about how your lifestyle choices affect your heart throughout the day.
How Biotricity Connects Lifestyle and Testing
After reviewing the different ways doctors evaluate heart health, it’s clear that traditional testing provides valuable snapshots. However, these tests often capture only a moment in time, typically during a single office visit. That’s where Biotricity’s approach to patient home monitoring comes in. Biotricity’s solutions bridge the gap with patient home monitoring solutions that offer clinical-grade monitoring while seamlessly fitting into patients’ daily lives.
Biotricity’s Biocore Pro is the only 3-channel connected cardiac patch monitor in the world. Physicians prescribe Biocore Pro, which monitors the patient for days or weeks and notifies providers of anomalies. Biotricity also offers a patient home monitoring solution for consumers, Bioheart. Bioheart is a 3-channel medical-quality continuous heart monitor and was recognized as one of TIME’s Best Inventions in 2022. One user shared: “Bioheart has allowed me to monitor my heart health from home and be acutely aware of any issues before they have the chance to worsen.” By extending cardiovascular monitoring beyond the clinic, Biotricity helps consumers, patients, and doctors gain a longer, more complete picture of how lifestyle, activity, and daily habits impact heart health.
Understanding Your Results in Context
It’s important to understand that it’s possible to have normal EKG results and still have a heart condition, especially if testing only captures a brief moment in time. A single snapshot may not capture underlying issues.
This is why continuous patient home monitoring has become so valuable. The more data doctors have about your heart’s response to daily activities, stress, exercise, and sleep patterns, the better they can assess how your lifestyle choices are impacting your heart health.
Your Heart Health Journey Starts Now
Understanding cardiovascular testing is just the beginning. The real value comes from using the insights from a cardiovascular test to guide lifestyle and treatment choices.
Every lifestyle choice affects your heart and cardiovascular testing helps you understand those effects and empowers you to make better decisions. Whether you’re a healthcare provider seeking a comprehensive patient home monitoring platform or someone wanting to optimize their heart health, Biotricity’s state-of-the-art solutions provide the insights you need.
Want to understand how your lifestyle is affecting your heart? Contact our team to learn more.
