Nuclear stress test - Animation

Your heart is the engine that keeps blood pumping throughout your body. When your heart doesn't work as well as it should, your body can't function normally. If you've had heart problems in the past, your doctor may recommend that you have a test to see how well your blood is flowing into your heart. Let's talk today about thallium and sestamibi stress test, also known as nuclear stress test. This is your heart. It's job is to receive oxygen-poor blood from your body, send it to your lungs to pick up fresh oxygen, then pump that oxygen-rich blood back out to your body. When your heart doesn't get enough blood, it can't work as well as it should. So, why would you need a thallium or sestamibi stress test?Well, your doctor may recommend that you have this test to find out why you're having chest pain, find out which treatment is best for your heart disease, check whether a treatment you've already had, such as medicine or surgery, is working, or see if you have coronary artery disease. So, what happens during the stress test?Well, you'll start to prepare for the stress test a day ahead of time. Don't eat anything the night before the test, and avoid any foods that contain caffeine for a full day beforehand. You'll have to skip your morning cup of coffee or tea, and avoid sodas and chocolate. Your doctor will let you know if you need to stop taking any of your medicines before the test. When you arrive at the doctor's office or medical center for the test, an intravenous, or IV line will be placed into your vein. Through this line, a weakly radioactive substance will be injected into one of your veins. You'll lie down and wait for 15 to 45 minutes, and a special camera will take pictures as the thallium or sestamibi substance moves into your heart during a period of rest. Then you'll walk on a treadmill with EKG electrodes monitoring your heart activity. Once you've reached your maximum level of exercise you'll get another injection of the radioactive substance and your heart will be scanned to see how well the blood is flowing during a period of "stress. " If you can't exercise, you'll get a drug that will simulate the effects of exercise by making your heart beat faster. During the test, some people feel chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, or a fast heartbeat. Let the person who is doing the test know right away if you don't feel well. So, what do the test results mean?Well, your doctor will compare the first set of images to the second set, to see if you have heart disease or your heart disease is getting worse. If blood is flowing well through the arteries of your heart, then your test is normal. If blood isn't flowing well, you may have a blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries of your heart. In that case, you may need to have another test, or an angiography, stent or heart bypass surgery to open up a blocked artery. A stress test can help your doctor see how well your heart is working. Then, you can find out together which treatments you'll need to get your blood pumping smoothly again.

Heart attack - Animation

You feel a tight band of pain around your chest. The pain moves from your chest to your arms, shoulder, and neck. What could your pain mean? Could it be a heart attack. . . could it be the big one?Heart attacks are caused by interruption of blood supply to part of the heart. If the blood flow is blocked, your heart is starved of oxygen and heart cells die. A hard substance called plaque can build up in the walls of your coronary arteries. This plaque is made up of cholesterol and other cells. A heart attack can occur as a result of plaque buildup or the rupture of one of these plaques. We're not sure why heart attacks occur when they do. You may have a heart attack when you are resting or asleep, or after a sudden increase in physical activity, when you are outside in cold weather, or after a sudden, severe emotional or physical stress, including an illness. So, how is a heart attack treated?If you go to the hospital for a suspected heart attack, a doctor or nurse will listen to your chest with a stethoscope. You will have a blood test to look for heart damage. A coronary angiography test can show your doctor how well blood is moving through your heart. If blood moves slowly, or not at all through your coronary arteries, you have either a narrowed, or blocked artery. Other tests can look at the valves and chambers of your heart and check for abnormal heart rhythms. If you've had a heart attack, doctors can do an emergency procedure called angioplasty. This surgery or procedure can open narrowed or blocked blood vessels. Usually they'll place a small, metal mesh tube, called a stent, in your artery to help keep it open. You may also receive drugs to break up the clot in your artery. Sometimes, doctors will do heart bypass surgery to get blood flowing to your heart muscle again. After you are treated in the hospital for a heart attack, you may need to take medicines to thin your blood, to protect your heart, or to improve your cholesterol levels. You may need to take these medicines for the rest of your life. Most people who have had a heart attack also need cardiac rehabilitation. This will help you slowly increase your exercise level and learn how to follow a healthy lifestyle. After you have a heart attack, your chance of another is higher. How well you do after a heart attack depends on the damage to your heart and where the damage is, and what steps you take to prevent another one. If your heart can no longer pump blood to your body as well as it used to, you may have heart failure and will need lifelong treatment. Usually a person who has had a heart attack can slowly go back to normal activities, but you will need to take steps to prevent another heart attack.

Irritable bowel syndrome - Animation

Are your off again, on again, bathroom habits affecting your daily life?If so, you may have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS. IBS is a problem that causes abdominal pain, cramping, and changes in your bowel movements. IBS is known as a "functional bowel disorder", and is not considered a disease. What I mean by that, is when a doctor passes a colonoscope into the colon to look around, everything may look perfectly normal - but yet, Your colon may not be not be acting normal at all!Symptoms of IBS can range from mild to severe. The main symptoms are diarrhea, constipation, or both. . . and you will probably experience abdominal pain, bloating, & gas. These symptoms often will temporarily improve after having a bowel movement, and that instant relief of course feels good. But, the important thing to understand is that the root of the problem often isn't "here" (abdomen), its "here" (head). IBS is a classic example of your mind affecting your bowels. It's rarely seen in folks who are not stressed, anxious, or depressed. It's often hard to determine why people get IBS. It has been found that IBS is twice as common in women as it is in men, and can develop at any age, but most get it as teenagers or in early adulthood. Diet can also cause IBS. Foods that often cause IBS symptoms are Fatty foods, such as French fries, or any drink containing caffeine like coffee and tea. One great idea is to keep a Food Diary. Write down what you're eating and when, and include the symptoms you experience after you eat. This information can be helpful to your doctor in identifying if you have IBS. The way most doctors diagnose IBS is by gathering your history and ruling out other things like lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance or some sort of bowel infection. Your doctor might recommend a colonoscopy just to make sure the colon looks okay. But remember, there is no specific test to diagnose IBS. So, how do you manage IBS?For some people, symptoms can reduce their ability to work, travel, and attend social events, and some may have to deal with IBS the rest of their life. There are several ways to manage your IBS. Large meals can make your symptoms worse. Try eating 4 to 5 smaller meals per day. Extra Fiber can bulk up your stools to help with diarrhea or help draw in extra water to help with constipation. Laxatives can help with difficult constipation. Drugs like Hyoscyamine help to calm down an overactive digestive tract. Lastly, since stress, depression and anxiety can fuel IBS, work on ways to relax. Perhaps, try exercise, meditation or yoga - and if that doesn't work, consider trying an antidepressant drug to help improve your mood. Oh, and keep in mind that blood in your stool or significant weight loss are not part of IBS, so be sure to let your doctor know if that ever shows up. Remember that the mind and the body are interconnected. You can't expect to feel good "here" (head), without feeling good down "here" (abdomen), and vice versa.