College is often an exciting and fun-filled time for all who attend, but it can also be a strange time for your body. Many people go through periods where they gain weight due to excessive alcohol consumption or an out-of-control diet. Unfortunately, you could be setting yourself up for an irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia that a stress test can manage.
Weight Gain Could Cause Arrhythmia
When you start gaining weight, you put your heart and your body under a lot of stress. For example, you could be causing your heart to struggle under the strain of your excessive weight. In other words, it is possible that you can create an irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia by gaining weight.
While the kind of weight you gain in college is likely to vary depending on a variety of factors, even an extra 15-20 pounds could increase this risk. Even worse, the risk goes up the heavier that you get. As a result, you need to take steps to manage it as soon as possible.
Exercise Could Help
One interesting thing about arrhythmia is that it is possible to treat it by losing weight. By decreasing your fat levels, you are removing some of the stress that your heart feels. And one of the best ways to lose weight is to exercise regularly. Just as importantly, it can also help your heartbeat on its own.
That's because a growing number of studies are showing that exercise can actually help people who are overweight overcome an irregular heartbeat. That said, it is important to make sure that your body and your heart can manage this problem before you jump into a hardcore exercise routine.
Make Sure You Do A Stress Test First
While exercise could help you gain control of your post-college weight gain and help manage your arrhythmia, you could also trigger a heart attack or stroke if you aren't careful. That's why it is important to get a stress test. This medical examination will track your heart while you do exercise to see when it starts to suffer from problems.
The idea is to gauge your heart's health under severe stress and to gauge how well it will react to these types of situations. If the doctor finds that minor exercise is too severe, they are unlikely to let you exercise that heavily. They may find another way for you to lose weight or even prescribe a medication to help manage your arrhythmia.
So if you are concerned about an irregular heartbeat and want to make sure that it doesn't affect you while you exercise, get a stress test right away. Your heart doctor will diagnose any conditions that could be contributing to this problem and help you overcome them quickly and efficiently. For more information, contact a company like Alpert Zales & Castro Pediatric Cardiology.