l have a friend that is going to have a stress test for his heart and he has to go to the hospital to get some sort of holster or harness on his chest for 24 hours. is this to be 24 hours right before the test and what does it do for him if he wears it?

The Holter monitor is the best way for doctors to see what your ticker is doing during your daily life, 24 hours a day. They get a better picture of what may be going on, if your Hr races or slows down.or if it has an irregular rhythm and what you are doing while you are having it.

It is painless and the most important thing is to record what you are doing during various times of the day. Your nurse will tell you more.

The Holter monitor is a mobile EKG (ambulatory EKG) machine that monitors the heart is rhythms during normal activities. It is used to monitor for arrythmias, to diagnose coronary artery disease and ischemia, and measures variations in heart rate.

The patient often keeps a diary of their daily activities and symptoms associated with them.

http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/holter-monitor.html

Holster & harness? You make ur friend sound like a cowboy. It is called a holter monitor. l wore one several years ago. The holter monitor is attached to ur friends chest by ecg electrodes.The monitor itself is the size of a small transitor radio, it sits in a pouch that ties behind his neck. You do not state why ur friend has to have this test done but essentially it is used to document cardiac arrhythmia's. There is an''event'' button that he has to press every time he feels a palpitation or any symptom that is abnormal, ie chest pain or shortness of breath.Sometimes patients r given a diary & they r to record the activity they were doing when they pressed the event button. It is most important that he does all his normal activities & not just sit for 24 hours.After 24 hours it is removed & the diary is submitted & the test will be interpreted by a cardiologist. take care, Donna