Cardiac Rehabilitation – Activity After A Surgery

Cardiac rehabilitation is an established form of active follow-up for people who either had a blood clot in the heart or underwent heart surgery. There are different treatments for each case.

In short, cardiac rehabilitation is a mixture of health education, exercise and emotional support. The goal here is to improve a heart patient’s quality of life so that they can return to their old activities as quickly and as normally as possible.

In addition, as another goal, the person needs to be aware of the habits that they need to adjust so that they do not have future heart problems. It can be said that the training in cardiac rehabilitation is more important than the exercises that come with it.

Many organizations around the world recommend rehabilitation programs. There is no doubt about the effectiveness of it. Scientific studies show that they can reduce the risks of future chest pain and heart attack in these patients.

Who can benefit from cardiac rehabilitation?

Cardiac rehabilitation programs are not good for all patients with ischemic heart disease. A patient must meet certain requirements in order to qualify and benefit from the program.

In each case, there is consensus as to who would benefit most from it:

• Heart failure:  This is a disorder in which the heart does not have enough strength to pump blood into the bloodstream. It affects a person’s daily life because common activities are not easy for them.
• Heart attack:  This is the recurring pain in the chest caused by not enough blood reaching the heart. Cardiac rehabilitation is fundamental to deter it from becoming an acute blood clot in the heart.
• Acute blood clot in the heart:  This is a serious and often fatal disorder. Cell death occurs in the heart due to a large decrease in the blood flow to the heart.

• Peripheral arterial disease:  This occurs when atherosclerosis blocks the arteries in the upper or lower extremities. The risk factors are similar to those for ischemic heart disease.
• Cardiac surgery:  When there is no other solution than a surgical procedure, a patient must undergo cardiac rehabilitation to be able to return to his or her old life.
• Heart transplant:  This is the latest solution in heart disease. Although not frequent, scientific developments have made this a solution for patients who are very ill.

Phases and equipment used

There are three phases in cardiac rehabilitation. The last two deal with the exercises and the training program. They are:

• Hospitalization or diagnosis:  The first stage is to identify the patient. The medical team determines the extent to which a person can benefit from a rehabilitation program, after careful evaluation and study. Then, they enroll them or leave.
• Active program:  A patient begins a cardiac rehabilitation program and begins the training plan itself, psychological conversations, health education, and clinical monitoring for pharmacological control. This phase lasts as long as necessary, in each case.
• Discharge:  The third phase is the discharge process, which takes place when the rehabilitation team is convinced that a patient can continue with the lifestyle changes on their own in their usual daily environment.

These phases come with and are supervised by a multidisciplinary team. The professionals who should often be a part of it are one:

• Cardiologist:  This professional determines the plan and prescribes the pharmacological treatment.
• Nurse:  In general, the nurse guides the everyday-related part of the program in order to keep a better overview of all the facts that pertain to it.
• K inesiologist / physiotherapist:  This professional is responsible for the exercises and their monitoring.
• Physiotherapist:  This person develops the exercises together with a physiotherapist.
• Psychologist:  This person takes care of the emotional factor of a patient in cardiac rehabilitation and supports the emotional process.

What exactly happens during cardiac rehabilitation?

As we mentioned at the beginning, cardiac rehabilitation is not just a program of kinesiological exercises, but rather health education. Thus, there are several areas of it, among them are:

• Clinical monitoring:  A medical team determines which type of rehabilitation is the most appropriate and which medication needs to be prescribed in order to improve the internal parameters.
• Exercises:  This is an exercise program for a patient that they can follow to improve the muscles of the heart. The exercises can vary and range from cycling on an exercise bike to performing controlled weightlifting.
• Health education:  The most important part of the program is that patients change their lifestyle. They gain knowledge about good eating habits and physical activity. They also learn how to deal with stress, when to go to the doctor, what actions are harmful and how to control other diseases that can aggravate their heart disease.

Thanks for reading.