Some Information on the ECG Test
One of the biggest causes of death in the UK and all across the world is heart disease. A lot of research is going on into how more lives can be saved from this killer illness that affects so many people. Companies like Richmond Pharmacology run adaptive phase 1 studies looking at the heart, and there are charities such as the British Heart Foundation who do a lot of good work to prevent death and illness caused by heart conditions.
For many people who suspect that they have something wrong with their heart, the first port of call is to have an ECG test. This stands for electrocardiogram and is a simple yet efficient way of letting doctors look at the activity of the heart so they can see if there is something wrong with how it is functioning.
From an ECG, a doctor will be able to tell if you are currently having a heart attack or have had a heart attack in the past. They can see the electrical signals that make the heartbeat and from that they can see problems withing the heart and how it functions.
When you have an ECG test, stickers are placed in various places across the body – these are attached to wires which transfer the electrical signals from the heart, and sends the information to a machine which prints this out onto a piece of paper which can then be interpreted and read by the doctor.