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- Echocardiographers
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Job opportunities and salaries in the healthcare specialty of Echocardiography have been rising steadily over the last few years and the US Department of Labor predicts another 26% increase in the need for Echocardiographers by the year 2016. Cardiac Sonographers are ranked in the Top 10 Best Paid positions for associate degree careers. Further more, skilled Echo Techs enjoy a rewarding career that balances high-tech expertise with compassionate care of the individual.
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Echocardiographer.net has assembled the most complete and up-to-date look at the Echocardiographer job market, salary trends, training requirements, licensing, and certification information, that our readers will find anywhere on the internet. We tell you the states that are most in need of Echo Techs, what kinds of employers offer the best paying Cardiac Sonographer jobs, and what it takes to become a successful Echocardiography professional. Visit us often for the most current happenings in this rewarding healthcare field.
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Click HERE to find Echocardiography Jobs everywhere in the nation...
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How Stress Echocardiography Can Save Your Life
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. But what if there was a way to prevent heart disease from so often being fatal? Now a major step forward offers hope for many more cardiac patients with the advent of Stress Echocardiography.
What is Stress Echocardiography?
Stress echocardiography is a noninvasive test that determines how the heart muscles respond to stress. This type of stress refers not only to mental or emotional strains, but also to physical activity. The test uses ultrasound imaging to diagnose any potential heart problems. With stress echocardiography, you can see whether your heart receives enough blood and oxygen when it is under stress. Experienced echo techs perform the stress tests under the guidance of physicians, allowing them to discover any problems often before they become life-threatening.
How It Works
If you’re familiar with cardiac sonography, you likely know that a resting echocardiogram is the first step of the process. This will allow for comparisons between the heart at rest and the heart at work once the echo stress test is complete. After the resting echocardiogram, you will exercise or receive medication like dobutamine until you reach a target heart rate.
Upon reaching the target heart rate, another echocardiogram is taken. During this process, ultrasound images will be recorded, and your blood pressure and heart rhythms will be tracked. These images will reveal whether any parts of the heart fail to receive sufficient blood or oxygen because of blocked arteries.
Who Should Consider It?
A physician may suggest a stress echocardiogram to discover whether coronary artery disease exists for a variety of reasons. In general, you and your doctor should consider the test if you:
- Have chest pain or symptoms of angina
- Have angina, and it may be worsening
- Have experienced unusual issues with shortness of breath
- Have known issues with the heart muscle or valve
- Have already had a heart attack
Obesity and Stress Echocardiography
The latest reports from the American Heart Association confirm that obesity rates in our country continue to soar. Along with the abundance of other health complications connected to being overweight or obese, obesity is inextricably linked to heart problems like cardiovascular disease.
Data collected from 2003 to 2006 revealed that among children ages 2-19, 23.4 million are overweight or obese, with 12 million falling into the obesity category. In regard to adults ages 20 and older, 145 million were overweight or obese as of 2007. Within this group, 74.1 million were obese.
It is clear that a vast percentage of our population will need to make lifestyle changes in order to avoid health complications. Fortunately, a stress echocardiogram can serve as an effective warning sign&emdash;by revealing how extra pounds can clog the coronary arteries and lead to heart disease, a stress echo test may detect problems early, allowing overweight and obese patients to modify their lifestyles accordingly.
Risks and Other Considerations
When it comes to stress echocardiography, the benefits outweigh the risks. Rare complications of the test include abnormal heart rhythm, collapse and heart attack, only when medication used to increase heart rate must be administered. During the exercise part of the test, people rarely experience symptoms such as chest discomfort, dizziness, palpitations or shortness of breath.
Some very short term discomfort seems an easy price for discovering coronary artery blockages. Making possible early diagnosis and treatment for the leading cause of death in our country, a stress echocardiogram is a simple yet effective test that may end up saving your life.
For More Information
Check out our echocardiography blog for current topics in the field. For open positions across the country, visit our echocardiographer job search network.
