The electrocardiograms are useless

The tests that are performed for patients experiencing chest pains are not very valuable in predicting future heart disease, said a team of researchers at the London Chest Hospital, UK.

Instead of doing electrocardiograms, doctors should devote more time to talk with patients about their symptoms and examine them in greater depth.

In the UK, two out of every 100 people have angina pectoris, one of the most common symptoms of heart disease.

When the patient tells the doctor that it hurts the chest, usually makes it an electrocardiogram to detect if there is a problem.

This study records the electrical activity of the heart for a period of time, searching whether there is any weakness in the muscle of the heart or if the rhythm of the heartbeat is abnormal.

For best results, patients often do this test while doing exercises.

The expert team found that more than half of the “events” of coronary, such as heart attacks, occurred in patients whose electrocardiograms had produced good results.

A clinical evaluation of routine, which is recorded in detail the patient’s clinical history and a thorough review, were almost as good as the electrocardiogram when it comes to predicting future heart problems, doctors noted.

The conclusion reached was that the study these tests have “limited value” to the doctors when dealing with patients who have not suffered in the past heart disease.

The study showed that it is best to talk to the patient.