Friday, December 26, 2008

Cardiac Rehabilitation - Building a Better Life after Heart Disease

Cardiac rehabilitation may be called a program based on building a better health for people who have experienced cardiac arrest or a heart attack. It is very necessary to follow a customized program of exercise and diet to regain ones health. Cardiac rehabilitation helps in regaining strength to avoid further complications by reducing the risk of heart problems through proper guidance.

Cardiac Rehabilitation
Cardiac rehabilitation can be called a medically supervised program specially designed to help patients suffering from heart problems to build a healthier life by recovering and improving their overall mental and physical health. It aims to prevent another heart attack and keep conditions from getting worse. It works to provide better quality of life.

Need for Cardiac Rehabilitation
Cardiac rehabilitation is needed while a patient is recovering from a heart attack or trying to prevent another attack. It aims to provide knowledge on how to moderate ones life according to the limitations of the body. If one is adjusting to a life after heart attack, cardiac rehabilitation helps make you feel better and makes things seem brighter.

By working out and adjusting to the new life under a trained eye, it becomes easy to survive and lead a better life.

Goals of Cardiac Rehabilitation
The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to slow down or even try to reverse the progress of cardiovascular diseases and in turn reducing the risk of further heart damage, attacks and death resulting from such diseases.

Counseling for the patients so they can better understand their problems and manage them
Designing an exercise program for patients
Providing proper guidelines for the patients to enable them to return to work
Lending emotional support
Helping patients in making them understand the modifying factors such as smoking, alcohol, lack of physical activity and intake of proper diet
Creating a sense of well being and optimism regarding the future in the patient
Aspects of Cardiac Rehabilitation
Cardiac rehabilitation has 4 main components:

Medical Evaluation
The healthcare team thoroughly studies the medical history and assesses physical abilities and limitations of the patient. They check whether there is a chance of any serious problem and how to prevent them. It helps in constructing a program suited to individual situation.

Physical Activity
If you have a heart problem, physical activity is better than lying down and resting. A cardiac rehabilitation program will design a proper exercise plan for you, keeping your condition in mind. It will help in remaining fit and making your heart stronger.

Lifestyle Adaptation
Knowledge about proper diet and nutrition will help you keep a healthy heart. Weight loss is better than being fat or obese. To take a balanced diet, learn what to eat and what to avoid as it will help in maintaining a good health.

Mental Support
Adjusting to a new lifestyle may prove difficult for some people. It needs some specialized people to work out with the patients and advice them on how to regulated their life and manage a new lifestyle.

Patients may experience anxiety and depression which needs professional advice. Cardiac rehabilitation helps you rebuild your life, both physically and emotionally. It may seem very hard in the beginning and cause difficulties in adjustment, but its basic purpose is to help one deal with changes in life.

Source : http://www.always-health.com/heartdisease_cardiac_rehabilitation.html

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