Routine Heart Tests May Be Useless for Many - East Idaho News
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Routine Heart Tests May Be Useless for Many

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thinkstock 3.16.15. hearttest?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1426556402289Monkey Business Images/Monkey Business/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — In a strongly worded statement released on Monday, the American College of Physicians says that common tests like EKGs and radioactive imaging of the heart are largely unnecessary if performed on patients who have no symptoms of heart problems or other significant health issues.

The group’s concern, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is not just that these tests are a waste.

There is also the “false positive” problem, according to researchers, which are issues discovered that pose no medical danger, but lead to more unneeded and expensive tests and procedures.

Researchers say that if the patient has no heart symptoms, doctors should instead focus on addressing smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity – all of which might pose actual heart danger in the future.


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