if a person had heart disease would they be able to walk fast on the treadmill for 20 minutes a day without pain?

It's possible.

It's possible to have a heart attack straight out of the blue with no risk factors and no symptoms.

Yes, possible. My father had severe blockages in 3 arteries back in 1992. He passed a stress test with flying colors -- no symptoms, no abnormalities spotted. Long story, short: He had bypass surgery later that year. Nowadays, his blockages are returning. Some days, he bops along on his treadmill for 40 minutes without any pain whatsoever. Other days, he has to stop due to the pain. Go figure.

Yes, there can be hidden problems in a few people. That happened to me.

A year ago I had built up to jogging a mile on the treadmill. A big target achieved, as I have other nerve/muscle probs.

Last August I suddenly started with chest pain on the treadmill, and when walking. I was found to have extremely high cholesterol (genetic?) and likely blocked arteries. Now I have just had an angiogram showing bad blockages in 3 coronary arteries so am awaiting angioplasty or bypass. I must have had coronary blockages building up for years even though I thought I was getting fitter on that treadmill. I'm 54 by the way. Only a few are unlucky like that!

Yes, I've read that in approx. 25% of people, treadmill tests will show no evidence of underlying disease. The only definitive way to know is a heart cath (or angiogram). I passed all standard external tests (thallium stress test, MUGA, etc.). Went in for heart cath and they found three clogged arteries, one 95%, one 80%, one 70%.

so what is the purpose of a echo and exercise stress test if its going to read false results?? why would drs order them to rule out cornary disease?? im confused

For many people it DOES detect possible heart problems, and is much less invasive (and much cheaper) than a cardiac cath ($1500 vs $60,000). So it's a matter of using the less invasive tests first to try and diagnose the problem. If nothing is found and the problem persists, a good cardiologist will continue to look for an answer, with cardiac cath usually the last and most usefull step in the process. Also, I suspect insurance companies may mandate a certain sequence of steps in order to limit costs.

The test is nowhere near 100% reliable but in some people it gives a valuable result, even though it may be inconclusive or false in some.

According to one website: If a patient is able to achieve the target heart rate, a regular treadmill stress test is capable of diagnosing important disease in approximately 67% or 2/3 rd of patients with coronary artery disease. The accuracy is lower (about 50%) when patients have narrowing in a single coronary artery or higher (greater than 80%) when all three major arteries are involved. Approximately 10% of patients may have a "false-positive" test (when the result is falsely abnormal in a patient without coronary artery disease).

I have severe blocking in 3 arteries, according to angiogram. My stress test was clearly positive so it gave a good warning, in my case, for me to slow down!

Most people are fine doing their gym work and it will be keeping them healthy and happy. Enjoy it. I will be back in my gym once I have been replumbed!

with a exercise stress test what speed do u go on and for how long. i can do about 20 minutes at home speed between 3.0- 3.5 with no pain or discomfort, is the test more diffucult than that?

hi rc998

The exercise ecg is done in standard stages, usually follows Bruce protocol as far as I understand.

It starts off real slow, which you will find tedious. Then every 3 minutes it goes up to the next stage, a little faster and a little more of an incline. This continues until you reach a certain formula-determined heart-rate, or until you get difficulties or pain or until the ecg shows you should stop. Then you are monitored on ecg etc. while you "recover" as that can give them a lot of information too. B.p. is also checked throughout at intervals.

1 ..........2.74 km/hr ....slope 10%
2 ..........4.02 .............12%
3 ..........5.47 .............14%
4 ..........6.76 .............16%
5 ..........8.05 .............18%
6 ..........8.85 .............20%
7 ..........9.65 .............22%
8 .........10.46 .............24%
9 .........11.26 .............26%
10........12.07 .............28%
Remember each stage is 3 minutes long.
3 miles/hr = 4.8km/hr
3.5 miles/hr = 5.6 km/hr

I was stopped at the beginning of the third stage. For me stage 2 felt just like a gentle warm-up session compared with what I had been used to. It can go on if needed to running speed but every person is different, others may need to stop at stage 1 or 2. It's not a race! I felt I could have gone much further but they were seeing things about my heart that I was not aware of!

how long does it take for the results to come back

rc998 regarding the speed at which you are pacing yourself on your treadmill at home. During my cardiac rehab sessions I go at a pace of about 3.8. It is not even close to the pace that you will be at during part of the stress test. Also during my very first stress test I was able to complete the test at a very quick jogging pace without any chest pain or shortness of breath. The test is a measurement for that particular day. Another day might produce different results.
I think most doctors could probably tell you right then whether you did well or not on the test, but I'm sure they take the time to gather all the results and determine whether further testing needs to be done.
Have you had a stress test yet and if so what do the results show?

i just went an hr ago, dr sd it looks great, also told me my echo still shows the mvp and the lining of my heart was inflamed, some word that began with a "p" dont know what that means? so just waiting for blood work to come back but he sd no further tests for now does anyone know what the "p' word is about the lining of the chest muscle?

Pericardium? It's the fluid sac that surrounds the heart. Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium.