Pages

Popular Articles :

Cardiac Rehabilitation

If you have just had a heart attack or undergone heart surgery, is not well thought of exercise that most deadlines. But for many with heart disease is a medically guided cardiac rehabilitation program that can help you to get your heart into shape and improve your overall quality of life.

Cardiac rehabilitation is a comprehensive program designed to help you to regain better health, whether you have had a heart attack, undergone heart surgery or have other heart diseases. It is a safe and effective way to overcome some of the physical complications that are associated with certain types of heart disease. It can limit your risk of developing more heart problems, help you return to an active social life and career, and improve your mental wellbeing. Rehabilitation can help you regain strength and could actually help you live longer.

Who benefits from cardiac rehabilitation?
Previously, cardiac rehabilitation is often seen as something that was only appropriate for younger people who needed to be fit to resume his work after having a heart attack or undergone heart surgery. Training was perceived as too risky or to be of little benefit to others. Today however, with better applications and closer medical supervision, this is the course for many people with various forms of heart disease.

You can benefit from such a program if you have had a heart attack or have angina , heart failure , cardiomyopathy , or have undergone certain surgical procedures such as bypass surgery , balloon angioplasty , stent implantation and valve surgery.

Age is not a barrier. People who are older than 65 years appear to benefit as much from a cardiac rehabilitation program as younger. Yes, indeed it is the case that older people with heart disease often have greater benefit from such a program, because left to themselves they will have less energy to be physically active.

Since hospital stays for people who have had a heart attack, are becoming shorter, the usefulness of the training program the better. In this program you can make lifestyle training and psychological support that you could easily miss during a brief hospital stay. The full meaning of a serious cardiac event attracts not to sink into the hospital because of the short length of stay. The questions pop up often only after their discharge, and then there is no doctor or nurse who can answer. Retraining in a rehabilitation facility makes it possible to get all your questions answered and improves long-term prognosis by restructuring your lifestyle. Research shows that home-based cardiac rehabilitation is probably as effective as institutional.

What is the rehabilitation program?

The program has four main pillars:

  • Medical Assessment
  • Supervised training
  • Lifestyle Training
  • Psychosocial support

Cardiac rehabilitation has both short and long term goals. In the short term, the program will help you to resume a normal life with normal activities and master the psychological and social aspects of cardiovascular disease. The program also aims to reduce your risk of new heart problems and control the symptoms, such as pain or fatigue, caused by the condition or operation.

In the long term you will learn to recognize and control the risk factors that led to your heart disease. You can also tie contacts or make new friends who have gone through the same thing as you. Heart-healthy behaviors become part of your life, and your overall health will improve.

Depending on everyone cardiac rehabilitation program. It is ideal for a person who had a small heart attack; bypass surgery may be associated with the hospital recently underwent a distinct possibility lasting. 

Different phases of a rehabilitation program
A rehabilitation program typically consists of several phases.

In the hospital. Ideally, start your recovery like after you've had your heart attack or heart surgery, while still in the hospital. A number of specialists emerging as cardiologist, teaching nurse, dietitian, physiotherapist, occupational therapist. Step by step increases the demand. You start with small power-intensive activities such as sitting up in bed, moving joints, perform morgentoilette, get dressed. Eventually you up and leave the room, the hallway and stairs. Without such pressures will quickly lose muscle strength as it takes a long time to recoup.

Early rehabilitation. The next phase of recovery begins when you leave the hospital. It lasts for 2 to 12 weeks, depending on the application. You can continue your training at a medical center, if there is one near where you live. Or you can on your own following a plan which you have received. During this period of early rehabilitation will gradually increase your overall activity level. Rehabilitation team can suggest exercises that you can safely carry on with the home, such as walking or running on the light rhythmic exercises. You learn about healthy diet, smoking cessation, psychological adjustment, taking up sexual activity and find social support.

Later training. After 6 to 12 weeks you will have developed your own workout routines at home or at a local gym. It may still be useful to have medical attention. Training in nutrition, lifestyle and weight loss continues. The rehabilitation phase typically lasts for 3 to 6 months.

Maintenance Training. Once you have learned appropriate training methods and has started to make healthy changes in your diet and lifestyle, you are ready for more independence. You probably will not need regular heart checks or medical supervision in connection with the exercise. The goal now is to establish your new lifestyle as a lifelong living. Regular visits to the rehabilitation center for example. semi-annually or annually can help to reinforce the new pattern of life.

Some details
Medical Assessment
A thorough assessment will help the rehabilitation team to assess your physical abilities, medical limitations, other conditions you have and your psycho-social needs. These findings will help them to create a training program tailored to your situation. A program that is safe and effective. Up to a third of people who have had a heart attack, have such. clear signs of depression. A medical evaluation can help to ensure that the condition is detected and treated as part of the rehabilitation program.

Physical Activity
Earlier doctors recommended bed rest, often for weeks, in patients with severe heart problems. As a result of increased knowledge of what happens when a heart attack, the recommendation is almost the opposite. Physical activity is good for your heart, even if it has been damaged. Exercise provides a number of advantages:


  • It increases blood flow to the heart and strengthens the heart's contractions so it pumps more blood and strives less
  •  It helps to achieve and maintain a healthier weight, and gives better control of risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol
  • It also helps relieve stress, improve your physical fitness and reduces pain
  • Exercise activities may consist of a mixture of heating, stretching, walking, biking or indoor activities that use of the treadmill, exercise bike or swimming.

When you start a cardiac rehabilitation program, the physical strain initially be small. Medical monitoring can be useful but is not essential. As strength increases, training more intense and you will exert yourself harder and longer. It is important not Skopte training, it will limit the improvement in your condition. The beneficial effects of exercise does not by whether you stop exercising.

The goal for you to be sure you exercise / training with moderate intensity for 30-40 minutes at least 3 days a week. Even better is if you can manage 60 minutes almost every day. New information suggests that weight training to strengthen the muscles may be beneficial for older people. Various types of equipment make equally good use. But you do not need to go to a gym, you can eg. improvise solutions at home.

Exceptionally, the risks associated with physical exercise exceed the benefits. The training must be limited. Your healthcare professional will advise you if this applies to you.

Lifestyle Intervention
Just like everyone else so will the way you live can affect your health. But when you have heart disease, the risk of major problems. By having a healthy diet and eliminate negative habits, you can improve your health and reduce your risk of another heart attack and other cardiovascular complications such as. stroke.

Many rehabilitation program gives you the opportunity to get advice from a dietitian to set up a healthy diet. You will learn about the fat and cholesterol affect your health. If you are overweight, you will receive training in dietary and exercise habits that can help you to lose weight. Those who run rehabilitation program can also advise you on how you possibly can stop smoking.

Psychosocial support
A heart attack can be a great and serious illness in greater or lesser degree affect your life. To adapt to the new situation can often take time. You can develop depression and anxiety, lose touch with your social network, and you can be away from work for shorter or longer - yes, some forever. You may notice that stress and anxiety persists even after your physical condition has stabilized. The disease can also affect your family.

To participate in an organized rehabilitation program also provides community with others who are in the same situation as yourself. You can share your feelings and experiences, which can make it easier for you to adapt to the new situation.

Many cardiac rehabilitation program provides advice and information about depression, stress, anger and other psychosocial reactions that you experience in the rehabilitation phase. Some need the assistance of occupational health, social security and employment agency to adapt the workplace conditions to the new situation.

A better prognosis
If you have had a heart attack or heart surgery, it may be helpful for you to participate in an organized rehabilitation program. If you have not received such an offer, you should contact your GP or the hospital to get help to get into such a program. Research has shown that such training improves quality of life and even can increase your lifespan.





Alerts: If you want to know more fresh update helpful articles enter your email address below and be notified by mail.

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner