Picture Your Heart's Health With EKGs

by : Damian Sofsian (www.e-healtharticles.com)

Each times yaour heart beats, the contractions and relaxations of the heart muscle emit electrical current. An electrodiogram (EKG) is the medical recording of the electric impulses from the heart. ELectrodes that send impulses to the EKG machine are attached to the patients skin at various point on the body. Those racorded currents are displayed on a computer monitor and can be printed out on special graph paper. Your hearts electrical currents are recorded on the graph paper as an EKG. Qualified medical staff interpret the graphed result determine any irregularities.

Most EKGs are performed in critical care facility, telemetry or any place that a particular patient needs to be monitored. EKGs can help your doctor determine that status of your heart health. By graphing the electrical impulses of the heart, doctors and other trained medical staff are able to see the presence of any abnormalities. The EKG recording often reveals the scars of the past heart attacks or other heart problems, acombination of family history and additional examinations may give your doctor a good idea of what to expect.

Individuals experienceing chest pain, shortness of breath, dizzines or heart palpitations will likely be reffered for an EKG be their doctor. An EKG is a rapid and safe way to determine if a heart attack is occuring. Those reporting these types of symptoms will likely be reffered to the nearest Emergency Room for further evaliation. If your doctor does not think your symproms indicate a life-threatening situation, you may be asked to make an appoiontment with an EKG specialist for further obseravation.

An EKG is very simple and painless procedure. The patients are instructed to lie face up on an examination table while electrodes are strategically paced at various points on their body. The electrodes ara attached to cables and the cables are attached to the EKG machine. The electrodes send electronic impulses to the machine and result in printed graph, wich is a picture of your heart function. The procedure usually takes 15 to 20 minute but may require a longger visit if the technician needs additional testing data. A stress test is a normal EKG procedure that reqiures the patient perform moderate exercise while recording hearts rhythms.