Recovering From Heart
Problems Through Cardiac Rehabilitation
Consumer Guide Number 17
Cardiac rehabilitation (rehab) services are designed to help patients with heart disease recover faster and return to full and productive lives. Cardiac rehab includes exercise, education, counseling, and learning ways to live a healthier life. Together with medical and surgical treatments, cardiac rehab can help you feel better and live a healthier
You can benefit from cardiac rehab if you:
Cardiac rehab can make a difference. It is a safe and effective way to help you:
Almost everyone with heart disease can benefit from some type of cardiac rehab. No one is too old or too young. Women benefit from cardiac rehab as much as men.
This booklet can help you learn how to lower your risk for future heart problems. You will also learn tips for finding a cardiac rehab plan that is right for you.
Most important, you will learn what you can do to be healthier.
When you have heart disease, breaking old habits and learning new ones can be stressful. Wondering about your future health can be stressful, too. But the support of family and friends, as well as health care providers, can make a big difference in how well you adjust to these changes. Share this booklet with others so they will learn about cardiac rehab and how they can help you.
The controllable risk factors for coronary disease are shown below. There are some risk factors that you cannot change, such as older age or a family history of heart disease. But you can change or control the ones shown below. Cardiac rehab can help you do this.
Coronary Disease Risk Factors You Can Control
Cardiac rehab services can involve many health care providers. Your team may include:
Sometimes a primary care provider, such as your family doctor or nurse practitioner, works alone playing many roles or refers patients to other health care specialists as needed.
But the most important member of your cardiac rehab team is you. No one else can make you exercise. Or quit smoking. Or eat a more healthful diet.
To be an active member of the cardiac rehab team:
A support network can help you. Your support network may be family, friends, or a group of other people with heart problems.
Family members and friends can make a difference. They may want to learn more about heart problems so their help can be even more valuable. For example, family members may have to learn to let you do things for yourself. Or they may want to learn about preparing heart-healthy meals. Your family and friends can give you emotional support as you adjust to a new, healthier lifestyle.
You may also want the support of other people who have heart disease. Ask your cardiac rehab team if they know of a support group you can join, or get in touch with one of the organizations listed in the back of this booklet.
Cardiac rehab often begins in the hospital after a heart attack, heart surgery, or other heart treatment. It continues in an outpatient setting after you leave the hospital. Once you learn the habits of heart-healthy living, stick with them for life.
Cardiac rehab has two major parts:
Cardiac rehab often takes place in groups. However, each patient's plan is based on his or her specific risk factors and special needs.
Cardiac rehab helps you recognize and change unhealthy habits you may have and establish new, more healthy ones. Your rehab may last 6 weeks, 6 months, or even longer. It is important that you complete the recommended rehab plan.
No matter how difficult it seems, your hard work in cardiac rehab will have lifetime benefits.
Cardiac rehab is safe. Studies show that serious health problems caused by cardiac rehab exercise are rare. The cardiac rehab team is trained to handle emergencies. Your health care provider can help you choose a plan that is safe for you. Many patients can safely exercise without supervision once they learn their own exercise plan.
Checking how your heart reacts and adapts to exercise is an important part of cardiac rehab. You may be connected to an EKG transmitter while you exercise. If your cardiac rehab is done at home, you may be connected to an EKG machine by telephone, or you may phone the cardiac rehab team to let them know how you are doing. In some settings, you check your own pulse rate or estimate how hard you are exercising.
The goals of cardiac rehab are different for each patient. In helping set your personal goals, your health care team will look at your general health, your personal heart problem, your risks for future heart problems, your doctor's recommendations, and, of course, your own preferences.
Cardiac rehab can reduce your symptoms and your chances of having more heart problems. And it has many other benefits:
Aerobic exercise raises your pulse rate and makes you perspire. It helps improve the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout your body. Strength training, such as using weights, improves your muscle strength and your stamina. Both types of exercise in the right amount are safe and important for your heart health.
Make a habit of the heart-healthy lifestyle you learn in cardiac rehab. Your life depends on it!
Your doctor or nurse may recommend a cardiac rehab plan or help you to arrange for exercise training, education, counseling, and other services. Many hospitals and outpatient health care centers offer cardiac rehab -- so do some local schools and community centers. You can also check the Yellow Pages of your telephone book.
When choosing a cardiac rehab plan, ask about:
Cardiac rehab has life-long favorable effects, so choose a plan that will serve your needs. For example, if you smoke, look for a plan that will help you quit. Choose a plan that includes activities you enjoy, such as regular walking in a shopping mall or park. Before you sign up, visit and ask any questions you may have.
Studies show that controlling your risk factors for heart disease can help you lead a healthier life. So make sure your cardiac rehab plan works for you. Here's how:
To gain more control over your cardiac rehab, remember your goals and keep important information where you can find it. You may want to have a special calendar just for your rehab activities or keep a notebook like the one shown on the next pages.
Sometimes people who have big changes in their lives feel depressed. Some people with heart problems feel depressed when they find out about their disease or after surgery. Cardiac rehab may help you feel better, but if you are seriously depressed you will need additional help. When you are depressed, it is hard to do things to help yourself get better, such as going to cardiac rehab or getting back to your usual activities. If you are depressed, tell your doctor. Depression can be treated. Information on a patient guide about depression is given on the last page of this brochure.
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For additional information about heart disease and ways you can help yourself through cardiac rehab, contact:
The information in this booklet is based on the Clinical Practice Guideline on Cardiac Rehabilitation. The guideline was developed by a non-Federal panel of experts sponsored by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), a U.S. Government agency. Additional support came from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Other guidelines on common health problems are available from AHCPR, and more are being developed.
Three other patient guides available from AHCPR may be of interest to people participating in cardiac rehab:
For more information about these and other guidelines, or to get more copies of this booklet, call toll free: 800-358-9295 or write to:
These and other guidelines are available online through a free electronic service from the National Library of Medicine called HSTAT. Copies of this brochure and other consumer brochures are free through InstantFAX, which operates all day every day. If you have a fax machine equipped with a touchtone telephone, dial (301) 594-2800, push 1, and then press the start button for instructions and a list of publications.