| While stethoscopes are used in a variety of situations, | | | | with cardiac stethoscopes are irregular heartbeats and |
| they are most commonly used to monitor patient's | | | | heart murmurs. Cardiologists can hear the distinct |
| hearts. Doctors use cardiology stethoscopes to listen | | | | sounds that these irregularities cause and treat the |
| for a variety of irregular sounds that could signal heart | | | | patient before the problem becomes worse. |
| problems. Some problems detected by cardiology | | | | An irregular heartbeat could mean many things. Some |
| stethoscopes are irregular heartbeats and heart | | | | people's hearts quickly speed up when they drink |
| murmurs. | | | | caffeine or alcohol. These types of irregularities are not |
| There are a number of different types of cardiology | | | | life threatening, but could be uncomfortable. Other |
| stethoscopes. Acoustic stethoscopes allow doctors to | | | | times, an irregularity could be a sign that the person |
| listen to the internal sounds of a patient's body but do | | | | has a life threatening condition such as ventricular |
| not amplify or record the sounds. Newer electronic | | | | fibrillation. |
| stethoscopes do amplify and record internal body | | | | Heart murmurs are the sound of blood flowing too |
| sounds. Many electronic stethoscopes can play back | | | | quickly or in abnormal pathways. Many athletes and |
| recorded sounds at various speeds and even create | | | | some pregnant women have heart murmurs, but |
| graphics or charts to visually represent patterns of the | | | | constant heart murmurs can be a sign that something |
| sounds. While acoustic stethoscopes may not have all | | | | is seriously wrong. |
| of the same features as electronic models, they are | | | | Cardiology stethoscopes can save lives. Cardiologists |
| still more common than electronic models and are | | | | use them to detect any unusual noises and diagnose |
| reliable for detecting irregularities in a patient's | | | | and treat problems before they become life |
| heartbeat and noticing blood flow problems. | | | | threatening. |
| Some of the sounds that doctors most often look for | | | | |