The Duke treadmill score is one of the most powerful ways for doctors and specialist to tell how your body is really functioning. By monitoring the way that the body reacts to being on the treadmill they can see many things that would otherwise have remained in the dark. Primarily this test is used on people who are at risk for coronary heart disease. Doctors use this test to diagnose this disease in time to get good treatment on the go.
There are some things that resting ECGs can simply not pick up and that are often made apparent with the Duke treadmill score. By having people take part in this test doctors can effectively save their lives by diagnosing the exact problem or complication. Some patients may need to be put on medication while others may require surgery. This will depend on the doctors opinion and the exact cause of the problem in question.
This test is a low risk test that has been done on the elderly and on the young with little to no ill effects. Studies have shown however, that it is more effective in middle aged people compared to elderly people. This is because it is much simple to set a guide for the younger patients. It can get tricky when trying to figure the results for the elderly simply because so many elderly people have heart problems already. This makes finding the median very difficult.
If you have been having heart trouble or trouble breathing make an appointment with your doctor immediately and ask him or her about the Duke treadmill score and if you should take the test.