By Fernando Boccalandro, M.D.
With it being ‘heart month,’ it is a good moment to learn about cardiac rehabilitation programs (cardiac rehab). Have you contemplated what it might be like to have your own personal coach after you suffered a cardiovascular event like a heart attack or heart failure? It’s a team in your corner that will help you live a healthier and more active life. This is what cardiac rehab programs do for people recovering from certain heart-related conditions and procedures.
Many patients with heart problems may already be familiar with the benefits of cardiac rehab. Cardiac rehab is a tailored, supervised exercise program that focuses on education about nutrition, medications, and heart healthy lifestyle choices to help young and elderly patients lead healthier lives. When you are in cardiac rehab, you have a professional team that will customize the program that best fits your individual schedule and needs. The main goal is to lower the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart failure and heart attacks, and help patients that suffered a cardiac related hospitalization to return to a healthier pathway, productive work and fulfilling family life. And as many people who’ve participated in these programs can attest, it can help you feel better physically and emotionally, giving you motivation to stay on track while providing the tools and knowledge necessary to decrease your long-term cardiovascular risk. Cardiac rehab can begin in the hospital and will continue after discharge in the outpatient realm. Most insurance companies cover a course of cardiac rehab if you have a recent heart attack, stable cardiac chest pain (also called angina), patients requiring revascularization procedures like stents in the heart, coronary artery bypass surgery, or valve surgeries. Also, patients with heart failure can qualify, while heart-lung transplants and patients with blockages in the peripheral circulation of the lower extremities, which can result in vascular pain while walking can increase their walking distance and well being with a course of cardiac rehab. Despite well-validated benefits, many people who could participate don’t take advantage of cardiac rehab programs. Their physicians may not refer their patients to cardiac rehab and when referred, they may decline to participate. It is estimated that 30 percent patients who are eligible don’t receive a referral to cardiac rehab from their doctor, and only 25 percent of patients referred actually go.
At Medical Center Hospital, we are fortunate to have an outstanding team of dedicated professionals that navigate with our patients through the recovery pathway after sometimes devastating and life-threatening illness or less significant cardiac events, helping them to live a longer, healthier, and happier life with their knowledge, guidance, and constant encouragement. If you were in the hospital due to a heart attack, heart failure, needing a cardiac procedure, or peripheral vascular disease, ask about cardiac rehab and take advantage of it if you can. It is a unique opportunity that will not regret and may change and even prolong your life.
