Importance of Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for Heart Patients

A healthy heart ensures a healthy and active life. A hospital's cardiac rehabilitation program serves the needs of heart patients to exercise safely, and maintain a heart-healthy life style. As part of the cardiac rehabilitation heart patients are provided tailored-exercises, education, guidance on quitting smoking and change of diet, and emotional support.

Patients with a record of cardiovascular diseases, those who had recent cardiac event, such as heart attack or heart failure, those who had undergone cardiac procedure such as angioplasty or heart surgery and those suffering from arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) or an implantable device (pacemaker or defibrillator) are eligible for cardiac rehabilitation.

It helps patients to carry out daily activities - walking, working etc, reduces the risk of recurrence of heart diseases, and improves the patients' quality of life. These programs are usually multi-disciplinary, and invite the coordinated and collaborative efforts of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and dieticians.

Each cardiac rehabilitation program takes into account the patient's personal preferences and personal constraints. Certain guidelines are mandatory while availing cardiac rehabilitation programs

1. Doctor's advice and referral are required before the patient goes for these programs.

2. It should have a proper reporting mechanism whereby the patient's progress is reported to the concerned doctor from time to time.

3. Patients are to undergo the doctor-supervised stress test, before going for this program.

4. Not only the patient but also his family need to be counselled of the heart diseases, its impact on them, and the good effects of undergoing this program.

5. It is never the same for all patients. It has to be customized as per the patient's health condition and proper diagnosis of the heart disease.

6. Trained and certified cardiac rehabilitation staff should facilitate the program.

7. The duration of the program, fee and insurance coverage are to be clearly defined.

It is mostly advised for patients who suffer from some form of cardiac risk. A planned cardiac rehabilitation program helps in achieving a level of health that may even be better than life before heart disease has occurred.

It offers remarkable benefits to patients suffering from heart diseases.

1. Improves the patient's exercise capacity.

2. Helps in lowering of lipid levels, body weight, blood pressure, blood glucose.

3. Reduces the progression of atherosclerosis.

4. Helps in the reduction of depression, anxiety, and stress.

Notably, This program helps patients to acquire and maintain functional independence. By the end of this program, each patient achieves enhanced, active and enriched life.

Cardiac rehabilitation program is advised for the patients suffering from cardiac problems and to maintain healthy heart. It improves the patient's exercise capacity, reduces the depression & blood pressure and provides healthy life.

Original article

The Importance of Knowing the History of Heart Disease and the Signs of Heart Disease

It is undeniable that heart disease is the leading cause of most countries in the world especially in the United States, Canada, England and Wales. In the United States, statistics say that about 25% of all the deaths are caused by heart diseases. This should then alarm everyone to take care of their heart. One way of doing that is to know the history of heart disease including the different signs of heart disease.

Heart disease is a general term that is used for the disorders that affect the heart. There are several types of heart disorders which include cardiomyopathy, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, ischemic, coronary, hypertensive, and valvular heart disease. History taking is very important for health care professionals especially when you are suffering from a heart disorder. They need to know the history of a heart disorder that you have for the proper diagnosis and especially for the treatment methods that need to be carried out. When you go to your doctor and you are being asked a lot of questions about the history of heart disorder, you have to patient and answer truthfully since the information they are asking for are vital.

There are different signs of heart disorders for the different types but there are common warning signs that you need to be aware of. The most common manifestation is chest pain or chest discomfort. There a lot of conditions that can cause chest pain but it should never be ignored. Chest pain is actually a term is used to describe discomforts such as pressure, pain, choking, numbness or squeezing that is felt at the chest and neck area, upper abdominal area including the head, the jaw and the arms. This can last for a few seconds to several days and it can be rare or frequent.

One of the common signs of heart disorder is palpitation. This refers to the awareness of the heartbeat, and most of you would have probably experienced it already. This is often described as a skip in the heartbeat wherein there is a pause that is followed by an unusually strong heartbeat. It can also be described as rapid or irregular heartbeats. This is a common sign of cardiac arrhythmia wherein the heart has abnormal rhythms. Another common manifestation is dizziness or light-headedness. This is of course indicative of several other disorders such as anemia, dehydration, diabetes and a lot more but it can also be a sign of heart disease. It should be properly evaluated by a doctor to learn the underlying cause.

Fatigue and shortness of breath are also common signs of heart disorder. Fatigue happens when you are always tired and unable to do your usual daily activities. This is often accompanied by somnolence or sleepiness at daytime. Although these can be caused by other disorders, proper evaluation is necessary since it can be a sign of heart failure. Meanwhile, shortness of breath is a common sign of respiratory disorders but is also common in heart disorders. This usually happens at night, during exertion and when lying flat on bed.

When you experience any of these signs of heart disease, you should go to your doctor immediately and have yourself checked. Remember to be cooperative when the history of heart disease is being asked so that you will be given the proper treatments.

For more information on Different Types of Diseases, Symptoms and Diagnoses, Please visit: History of Heart Disease and Signs of Heart Disease.

Original article