How Important Is Cardiac Rehab?

Cardiac rehabilitation does not change your heart's past, but it can help you improve your future.

Research has found that participating in cardiac rehabilitation decreases the chance you will die in the five years following a heart attack or bypass surgery by about 35%.

Yet nationally, only 20 to 25% of heart patients follow their doctor's recommendation to take advantage of cardiac rehab, says Tim Maynard, manager of Franciscan Health's cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation program in Lafayette.

"Cardiac rehab is the fountain of youth, but people have to come to get their 'drink,'" Maynard said.

Whether you have experienced heart failure, heart attack, angioplasty or heart surgery, participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program can help you improve your cardiovascular health.

What Is Cardiac Rehabilitation?

Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program to designed to strengthen the heart and body after a heart problem requiring surgery or other medical care. It combines exercise and education about healthy living to help prevent a heart problem from occurring again.

Supervised cardiac rehabilitation includes physical activity and education about healthy eating, how to take medication as prescribed and how to quit smoking. It also includes counseling to find ways to relieve stress and improve mental health. This may be done by a team of people, including health care workers, exercise and nutrition specialists, physical therapists and counselors.

"We're rich in teaching resources - an exercise physiologist, a behavioral specialist for stress management, a dietician, a physician or pharmacist for medication management," Maynard said. "The brilliant work of our cardiologists can be undone in a matter of months at home if the patient does not change unhealthy habits. We don't want that to happen."

How Does Cardiac Rehab Work?

Cardiac rehab works by strengthening the heart and body after a heart attack. It can relieve symptoms of heart problems, such as chest pain.

"It's a supervised exercise program essentially for cardiac patients and sometimes for other conditions as well," said Brittany M. Dixon, MD, FACC, a cardiologist with Franciscan Health Cardiology Olympia Fields. "Essentially what we're doing is we're monitoring their blood pressure and heart rate during the supervised exercise program. At the beginning of the cardiac rehab, they'll set goals for each patient and then they'll monitor the patient's progress over time so it helps with recovery after a heart attack. It also helps to really increase patient's confidence levels for exercise, and i think that's a huge benefit."

Cardiac rehab programs can be done in a hospital or rehabilitation center. Some programs can be done at home. Rehab may start while you are still in the hospital or right after discharge.

What Is Cardiac Rehab Like?

Cardiac rehab is a medically supervised, three-phase program that is based on your needs:  

• Phase I: Starts during recovery in the hospital after a heart attack or another heart issue.
• Phase II: A 10-12-week outpatient program, with a physician referral.
• Phase III: Exercise and support to maintain improvements and strength. No physician's referral needed. Available in select locations.

How Long Can A Person Be In Cardiac Rehab?

Often, cardiac rehab programs are designed for sessions three times a week for a three-month period, though they can be extended longer. A cardiac rehab program can range anywhere from two to eight months.

What Are Benefits Of Cardiac Rehabilitation?

"Long term it reduces the risk of death," Dr. Dixon said. "It can increase exercise capacity, and that's really important especially in patients who've been in the ICU or people who are postoperative. Cardiac rehab increases their strength, increases their quality of life. They've actually tracked this in many patients. It's been shown to decrease hospital remissions, helps manage their habits, provides education, all of those things."

Participating in cardiac rehab can help reduce stress, improve mood and lessen or prevent depression symptoms. It can increase energy and strength to make daily activities like carrying groceries and climbing stairs easier. It can also help a person stay on track with prescribed medications.

Is Cardiac Rehab For You?

Anyone who has had a heart problem, such as a heart attack, heart failure or heart surgery, can benefit from cardiac rehab.

If you've been diagnosed with or experienced any of the conditions below, talk with your doctor about how cardiac rehab can improve your health.

• Chest pain or angina
• Stent placement
• Heart attack
• Bypass surgery
• Valve replacement
• Heart failure

Dr. Dixon encourages people with these conditions to discuss the benefits of cardiac rehab for their long-term health.

"There are very few medication interventions that have such substantial impact in terms of lowering mortality or reducing hospitalization," she said. "So all-cause mortality lowering by 58 percent, I can't think of many other things post you know, heart attack, post stroke, post heart failure admission that would be so effective. "