What are stress tests?Stress tests show how well your heart handles physical activity. Your heart pumps harder and faster when you exercise. Some heart disorders are easier to find when your heart is hard at work. During a stress test, your heart will be checked while you exercise on a treadmill or stationary bicycle. If you're not healthy enough to exercise, you'll be given a medicine that makes your heart beat faster and harder, as if you were actually exercising.If you have trouble completing the stress test in a specified period of time, it may mean there is reduced blood flow to your heart. Reduced blood flow can be caused by several different heart conditions, some of which are very serious.Other names: exercise stress test, treadmill test, stress EKG, stress ECG, nuclear stress test, stress echocardiogram
