What is an ABP Monitor? This is a small machine, about the size of a portable radio. You wear it on a belt. This machine lets your doctor find out what your blood pressure was every 15 to 30 minutes of a normal day. The picture below shows a person wearing an ambulatory blood pressure monitor. It can be worn under your clothes without anyone seeing it. The information collected by this machine can help you and your doctor see if your blood pressure treatment is working.

Your doctor may want you to use an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for these reasons:

• If you have "borderline" high blood pressure
• If you and your doctor can't keep your blood pressure low
• If you have blood pressure problems caused by your other medicines
• If you are pregnant
• If you have fainting spells

The monitor may help your doctor find out if you are a person who only has high blood pressure in the doctor's office (this is called "white-coat hypertension"). If you have this kind of hypertension, you may not need to take medicine.

What problems can ear wax cause? Ear wax can cause hearing loss, pain, and cough. Hearing loss occurs when wax completely blocks the ear canal. This prevents sound waves from easily reaching the ear drum, in exactly the same way that ear plugs (or a strategically-positioned finger) block sound. Even a small amount of wax, if wedged between the ear drum and the ear canal wall, reduces the ability of the ear drum to conduct sound. Some people form very hard wax, which can cause pain by putting pressure on sensitive ear canal walls. Finally, since the ear canal shares some of the same nerves which give sensation to the throat, ear wax can provoke a "tickle in the throat" which can then lead to cough.

This quick and painless procedure helps flush out any residual wax in the ear canal.

Why do I need a bone density test? A bone density test, or scan, is designed to check for osteoporosis, a disease that occurs when the bones become thin and weak. Osteoporosis happens when the bones lose calcium and other minerals that keep them strong. Osteoporosis begins after menopause in many women, and worsens after age 65, often resulting in serious fractures. These fractures may not only bring disability, but may affect longevity. As many as one-fourth of women who fracture their hip after age 50 die within one year.

What is it? An electrocardiogram – abbreviated as EKG or ECG – is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. With each beat, an electrical impulse (or “wave”) travels through the heart. This wave causes the muscle to squeeze and pump blood from the heart.

Why is it done? An ECG gives two major kinds of information. First, by measuring time intervals on the ECG, a doctor can determine how long the electrical wave takes to pass through the heart. Finding out how long a wave takes to travel from one part of the heart to the next shows if the electrical activity is normal or slow, fast or irregular. Second, by measuring the amount of electrical activity passing through the heart muscle, a pediatric cardiologist may be able to find out if parts of the heart are too large or are overworked.

What is an Exercise Stress Test? An exercise stress test, sometimes called a treadmill test, helps a doctor find out how well your heart handles work. As your body works harder during the test, it requires more oxygen, so the heart must pump more blood. The test can show if the blood supply is reduced in the arteries that supply the heart. It also helps doctors know the kind and level of exercise appropriate for a patient.

What is glaucoma screening? Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness in the U.S., affecting nearly 3 million Americans. Glaucoma represents a family of eye diseases commonly associated with optic nerve damage and visual field changes (a narrowing of the eyes' usual scope of vision). Because the disease often progresses silently, with no warning or symptoms, it is estimated that up to one-half of the approximately 3 million Americans with the disease don't even know they have it.

Glaucoma occurs when high fluid pressure in the eye presses against the optic nerve, causing damage. The damage to optic nerve fibers can cause blind spots to develop. These blind spots usually go undetected until the optic nerve is significantly damaged. If the optic nerve is destroyed, blindness results.

While anyone can get glaucoma, certain groups of people are at higher risk for the disease. These include African Americans and Hispanics, and people with diabetes, who are nearly twice as likely to develop glaucoma as adults without diabetes.

Glaucoma screening can lead to early detection and treatment, which can prevent, slow, or stop vision loss from the disease. Medicare covers annual glaucoma screening for people at high risk for the disease; this section describes this benefit and provides information and resources for health care professionals and organizations to support the delivery and promotion of this benefit for appropriate Medicare beneficiaries.

What is a Holter Monitor? A small recorder (monitor) is attached to electrodes on your chest. It records the heart's rhythm continuously for 24 hours. After the monitor is removed the heart's beats are counted and analyzed by a physician with the aid of a computer. Your physician can learn if you are having irregular heart beats, what kind they are, how long they last, as well as what may cause them.

How is it performed? The nerve conduction velocity test is performed to evaluate nerve function. It tests the speed impulses travel through a nerve.

During the test, flat electrodes are placed on the skin at intervals over the nerve that is being examined. A low intensity electric current is introduced to stimulate the nerves.

The velocity at which the resulting electric impulses are transmitted through the nerves is determined when images of the impulses are projected on an oscilloscope or computer screen. If a response is much slower than normal, damage to the myelin sheath is implied. If the nerve's response to stimulation by the current is decreased but with a relatively normal speed of conduction, damage to the nerve axon is implied.

What is a Nuclear Stress Test? This is a type of nuclear scanning test or myocardial perfusion imaging test. It shows how well blood flows to the heart muscle. This is a type of nuclear scanning test or myocardial perfusion imaging test. It shows how well blood flows to the heart muscle.

The thallium stress test is useful to determine:

• Extent of a coronary artery blockage
• Prognosis of patients who've suffered a heart attack
• Effectiveness of cardiac procedures done to improve circulation in coronary arteries
• Cause(s) of chest pain
• Level of exercise that a patient can safely perform
• Possible cause of abnormal EKG.

Why would I need a spirometry test? This test is used to determine the cause of shortness of breath, to rule out any kind of obstructive disease that blocks breathing, or restrictive disease that limits the expansion and capacity of the lungs. Spirometry is most often used to diagnose and monitor lung problems, such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or asthma.

Spirometry is also used to monitor how well medications for respiratory problems are working and to evaluate breathing capability prior to surgery.

What is Ultrasound? Sound is made up of several different frequency waves. The very high frequency range is inaudible to the human ear and is known as ultrasound. Ultrasound was used by the Navy during World War II to detect submarines, and is widely used by fisherman to help find schools of fish.

In each case, an ultrasound machine is used. With the help of a microphone-shaped device (known as a transducer) ultrasound waves are created and beamed through water. When the beam encounters a boundary or interface between liquid (water) and a solid (submarine or fish) with a different density or compactness, part of the beam is reflected back to the transducer. The remaining waves move through the object and reach the back boundary between solid and water. Here, some more of the ultrasound waves are reflected back to the transducer. In other words, the transducer transmits ultrasound and constantly receives waves that are reflected back every time the beam travels from one density to another.

The reflected ultrasound waves are collected and analyzed by the machine. Knowing the amount of time it took for the beam to travel from and to the transducer, the ultrasound machine can determine the shape, size, density and movement of all objects that lay in the path of the ultrasound beam. The information is presented on a monitor screen and can also be printed on paper. That is how ships detected submarines during World War II, fishermen identify choice fishing spots, an obstetrician can evaluate the fetus of a pregnant woman, and a cardiologist can examine the heart of a patient. There is no radiation!