The Holter machine it is one of the great advances in medicine of contemporary times. It is a device that you can take home and that record the heart activity to know your health status and find out if there is any abnormal heart rate.
The information that can be recorded thanks to Holter is very wide and useful for doctors, since any condition that could endanger the health of the patient can be detected in time. In this article we are going to discover you what is Holter and what is it for; in this way, you will be able to better understand the operation of this device.
What is Holter, the heart device
Holter is a medical device that is designed to know the activity of the heart for 24 hours. It’s about a small and portable device which monitors the functioning of this vital organ so that, thus, specialists can detect its state of health and discover if there are abnormalities.
The most frequent reasons by which a doctor may request a Holter examination are as follows:
– Appearance of palpitations or tachycardia
– Experience dizziness with no apparent cause
– Have chest pains, at rest or while active
– Taking drugs for arrhythmia or angina pectoris
– To control implantations such as pacemakers
What is a Holter test like and what is it for?
Holter’s name comes from its inventor, Norman Holter, a physicist from the United States who created a small device that continuously recorded the heart’s rhythm.
Today, Holters have evolved and are much smaller and more comfortable; this test allows to measure, not only the electrocardiogram, but also know the Breathing frequency of the patient and heart rate.
This test is very simple to perform: certain electrodes are placed on the patient’s chest that are connected to a small device: the Holter. Due to its size and light weight, you can carry this device in a pocket, in your bag or around your neck.
The operation of the appliance is using a batteryTherefore, it must always be checked that it is properly charged in order to be able to monitor correctly 24 hours a day; It is also important to make sure that the electrodes are well attached to the body so that the activity recorded is the real one.
The patient can carry out your life with absolute normality and Holter will take care of recording all the activity that the heart experiences. Once this time has passed, you should go to the doctor so that the expert can analyze the operation and check if there are any notable anomalies.
What should be avoided during a Holter test?
Although it is recommended that life be carried out with absolute normality, there are a series of precautions to take into account so that the results are not altered. During the 24 hours of registration, you must avoid the following:
– Do not use electric blankets or mats
– Avoid high voltage areas
– Do not go through metal detector areas
In addition, if the cause of the monitoring has been due to discomfort during sports, it is common for the professional to request that the patient perform physical exercise with the Holter active and recording the activity.
Bibliography
DiMarco, JP, & Philbrick, JT (1990). Use of ambulatory electrocardiographic (Holter) monitoring. Annals of internal medicine, 113 (1), 53-68.
RodrÃguez, J., Prieto, S., Bernal, P., Soracipa, Y., Salazar, G., Isaza, D., … & Correa, C. (2011). New methodology to help diagnose cardiac geometric dynamics chaotic holter dynamics. Journal of the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, 35 (134), 5-12.
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