Heart Health
Ask the doctor: Nuclear stress tests
But for the test to be useful, you have to be able to walk or pedal fast enough to get your heart pumping at 85% of its maximum rate for several minutes. People who cannot exercise that hard — if you are on a treadmill, it means walking pretty briskly — can get a nu clear stress test instead. The test involves infusion of a chemical into a vein to mimic the effect that exercise has on the coronary arteries, followed by infusion of a radioactive material — a radiotracer — that allows a special camera and computer to create very detailed images of the heart.
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