Cardiac rehabilitation, or cardiac rehab, is a medically
supervised program designed specifically for you to improve
the health of your heart. If you have heart disease, have had a
heart attack, angina, bypass surgery, angioplasty or have
heart failure, cardiac rehab can give you the tools you need to
take control of your heart health. "I did four months of
cardiac rehab that was the best thing that could happen to me
because you start going back to exercise and you are monitored.
They monitor your heart. They monitor your blood pressure. You
feel safe in that environment." There are several benefits of
cardiac rehab. One benefit is an improvement in your
cardiovascular fitness through regular physical activity.
Starting with supervised physical activity, and
eventually progressing to exercise you can do regularly at
home, cardiac rehab will give you the confidence to get
moving. Physical activity improves cardiovascular health.
It strengthens the other muscles in your body too. Eventually,
both you and your heart can do more work with less effort. And
over a period of time, your heart may be able to pump more
blood with each beat, improving circulation. Cardiovascular
fitness is key to helping reduce your risk of having future heart
problems or events. And cardiovascular fitness will help
you recover from your cardiac event or procedure more quickly
and may help to reduce symptoms such as chest pain, fatigue, and
shortness of breath. Another benefit of cardiac
rehabilitation is a decrease in your risk of having future heart
problems through lifestyle changes. Together, you and your
cardiac rehab team will look at how your daily habits increase
your risk of heart disease and find ways to improve them. You
may receive counseling or attend classes that can help you learn
how to make heart healthy lifestyle changes that will
benefit your heart and overall health. These sessions may
include information on how to choose heart healthy foods,
including foods low in sodium, unhealthy fats and sugar, to
help you lose weight and reduce the strain unhealthy food
choices can put on your heart. They may look at your stress
levels; another serious risk factor for heart disease, and
help you find a way to reduce or control your daily stress.
Sessions may outline the importance of taking all of your
medications correctly. This is important to your recovery and
ongoing heart health but can be confusing. Your cardiac rehab
team is there to help answer any questions you may have about
what you are taking, and can help you find a way to keep
track of your medications to ensure you are taking all of
your medications in the right way and at the right time. And
if you smoke, counseling sessions can help you find a
method to quit that you can stick to for better heart
health. And finally, cardiac rehab can give you the emotional
support you need while you live with heart disease. You do not
have to go through this alone. "It's a nice social event. I'm a
very social person and I tell you, it's just kind of neat
getting together with all these people who had been through
something similar, not the same necessarily, but something
similar to what I've done." "One of the great benefits of the
cardiac rehab program is the psychological part of it. Which
is where you meet people, like yourself, who have had this
problem. And-- but then, they teach you all about it." Members
of your cardiac rehab team; which may include a doctor,
nurse, exercise physiologist and dietitian; are there to help
every step of the way. They are there to take exceptional care
of you. "Everything's going well." "Am I at the level I'm
supposed to be at? "Oh yeah you're at the level" If you have
had a heart event, or are living with heart disease, and haven't
been prescribed cardiac rehabilitation talk to your
healthcare provider about joining a cardiac rehab program
today. During cardiac rehab, you will benefit from the tools you
develop and the emotional support you receive, to live a
long, heart healthy future.