Fewer heart blockages showing up on stress tests

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The proportion of patients who have blocked arteries show up during a stress test has dropped "enormously" over the past two decades, according to a new study. However, researchers disagreed about why that might be the case – whether the tests are getting worse, people's heart problems are becoming less severe, or simply too many healthy people are being referred for testing they don't need. On a stress test, doctors monitor a person's heart and blood vessels during exercise or after administering a combination of drugs that similarly stress the heart. …