In as many as one in five people over age 55, when the heart contracts to send blood around the body, some degree of backward leakage occurs across the mitral valve, a condition known as mitral regurgitation. A new study finds that monitoring the capacity of these patients to exercise on a treadmill — an evaluation called exercise tolerance testing — may be useful in predicting the condition's progression and whether the patient will need surgery.

Source: About Heartburn / GERD