Rehabilitation after Heart Attack

Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for Heart Attack Recovery by Jazz  Alessi

What Increases the Risk of Developing a Heart Attack?

Coronary artery disease (disease of the blood vessels that supply the heart) is the most common type of cardiovascular disease.

It happens when narrowing of the coronary arteries occurs due to build-up of atheroma (fatty material) in their walls which causes chest pain, discomfort or shortness of breath that may eventually lead to a myocardial infarction (heart attack) [1].

There are nearly 2.3 million people living with coronary artery disease in the UK with cardiovascular disease being responsible for nearly 26 per cent of all deaths in the UK according to the latest statistics updated by the British Heart Foundation in August 2017 [2].

Every day in the UK [2]:

435 people lose their lives because of cardiovascular disease, nearly a quarter of them will be younger than 75 years old.

Seven million people will be fighting their daily battle with cardiovascular disease.

This number is equally divided between men and women.

530 people will go to hospital because of a heart attack.

190 people will die from a heart attack, that’s nearly 70,000 deaths a year.

Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for Heart Attack Recovery

Several risk factors lead to the development of heart disease; some of which are non-modifiable (such as advancing age, gender and family history of coronary artery disease), however, others are modifiable such as[2]:

What are the Early Warning Signs of developing a Heart Attack?

Although a heart attack can develop suddenly, there are usually some warning signs that occur in the days and weeks before it.

These may sometimes be subtle and short-lived and that’s why they usually go unnoticed.

Being aware of these warning signs saves lives:

  • Having exertional chest pain (related to walking, climbing stairs…etc) in the central part of the chest that may extend to the neck, lower jaw, left shoulder, arm and forearm that is eventually relieved by resting.
  • A recent change in the level of physical activity that can be performed comfortably before developing unexplained shortness of breath, palpitations or undue fatigue requiring you to stop and rest.
Read more

Things to Do in the Event of a Heart Attack [1,2]?

  • The first minutes are the most important and crucial for saving the life of a heart patient.
  • Call 999 immediately and ask for an ambulance for a patient with chest pain.
  • Even if in doubt, don’t hesitate to call as it is better to have a false alarm than for a person to lose their life. Paramedics and physicians are aware of that.
Read more

Life After a Heart Attack

Going home after a heart attack can be quite intimidating as the experience is very unpleasant. A heart patient needs to start to work immediately on how their recovery from the heart attack should be.

Read more

Need for Cardiac Rehabilitation

  • Since the key issue in heart attack recovery is to prevent the development of a repeat heart attack hence the importance of cardiac rehabilitation.
  • Actively participating in a cardiac rehabilitation programme has been scientifically proven to be independently associated with a decrease in cardiac mortality (death from a heart disease) and a decrease in repeat heart attack.
Read more

All About Cardiac Rehabilitation

  • What is Cardiac rehabilitation?
    • A cardiac rehabilitation programme is a comprehensive exercise, education, and behaviour modification programme with a goal of helping patients restore and maintain optimal health while helping to reduce the risk of future heart problems.
    • It has also been defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as all activities and interventions required to ensure the best possible physical, mental, and social conditions so that patients with cardiovascular disease may, by their own efforts, preserve or resume their proper place in society and lead an active life [13].
Read more

What are the components of a cardiac rehabilitation programme and must it be personalised?

  • A proper cardiac rehabilitation programme is a multi-disciplinary approach; meaning that it requires a focused team approach with the participation of a cardiologist, elite personal trainer exercise rehabilitation therapist, nutritionist, dietitian, psychiatrist, and nurse specialist.

Read more

Different patients with different conditions require different approaches for the cardiac rehabilitation exercise programme that they undertake.

Consider the following patients:

  • A 48-year-old accountant who was a heavy smoker, has high blood pressure is overweight who recently had a heart attack that was adequately treated and has normal heart functions.

Read more

What is a cardiac rehabilitation exercise programme?

  • This is usually a 6-months programme depending on the intensity (number of sessions per week) permitted by the patient’s general condition.
  • Initial assessment of each patient’s functional capacity prior to exercise training is a must to tailor an exercise programme that is not too hard for the patient to cause complications, and not too low to fail to produce the aimed benefits.

Read more
Heart Attack Recovery Program

What could be expected after completing a cardiac rehabilitation program?

  • An improvement in exercise tolerance regardless of age or gender.
  • It should be noted that adverse events from exercise are extremely rare and that benefits are greater in patients with lower exercise tolerance at baseline.
  • Significant improvement of coronary artery disease symptoms.
  • Improvement in blood cholesterol levels.
  • Improvement in body weight.
  • Reduction of blood pressure.
  • Reduction of smoking with complete quitting expected in nearly a quarter of all patients.
  • Improved psychological and social well-being like
  • One of the benefits of exercise is that it causes the release of a natural substance called endogenous opioids which gives the sense of wellbeing and feeling good about oneself thus reducing and stress or anxiety that could be present during heart attack recovery.
  • Reduction of stress.
  • Improved social adjustment and functioning like
  • The goals set during customisation of the programme consider your social setting (do you live alone, have a live-in companion, have dependants?) and the type of job/work you have. This is done to help you reach a normal level of social and vocational functioning so that you can perform all required activities comfortably.
  • Majorly increasing your confidence
  • Improved mood, seeing life more positive
  • Reduced anxiety and depression feelings

Decreasing heart and non-heart related deaths.

Personalised Cardiac Rehabilitation Programmes by Jazz Alessi

I am an Elite Personal Trainer, Clinical Exercise Specialist, Second Generation Pilates Trainer, Certified Nutritionist and Weight Loss Expert.

I offer several programmes including cardiac rehabilitation programmes tailored to my clients’ unique needs which are done in close collaboration with your cardiologist and specialised physicians.

I use only an evidence-based approach to fitness, exercise and cardiac rehabilitation which guarantees getting the best results and at the same time keeping your safety and health as my priority.

As an elite personal trainer, I understand how to bring out peak performance, while helping you achieve optimal health and avoid injuries or any setbacks to your current health condition.

I enjoy working with new people, formulating unique multi-disciplinary exercise programmes to suit their personal goals.

I have helped clients who have suffered strokes, heart attacks or who struggle with cardiovascular diseases and am looking forward to helping you on your journey to get better.

Keen to get started?

Claim now your FREE CONSULTATION by clicking on this link, here

References:

  1. NHS. Heart attacks.
  2. British Heart Foundation. Cardiovascular Disease Statistics 2017.
  3. Robertson J, Ebrahimi R, Lansky A et al. Impact of cigarette smoking on extent of coronary artery disease and prognosis of patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes: an analysis from the ACUITY Trial (Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage Strategy). JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2014 Apr;7(4):372-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jcin.2013.11.017.
  4. Aronson D, Edelman E. Coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus. Cardiol Clin. 2014 Aug;32(3):439-55. doi: 10.1016/j.ccl.2014.04.001.
  5. Rosendorff C, Lackland D, Allison M, et al. Treatment of hypertension in patients with coronary artery disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and American Society of Hypertension. Hypertension. 2015 Jun;65(6):1372-407. doi: 10.1161/HYP.0000000000000018.
  6. Tuso P, Stoll S, Li W.A plant-based diet, atherogenesis, and coronary artery disease prevention. Perm J. 2015 Winter;19(1):62-7. doi: 10.7812/TPP/14-036
  7. Yahagi K, Davis H, Arbustini E, et al. Sex differences in coronary artery disease: pathological observations. Atherosclerosis. 2015 Mar;239(1):260-7. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2015.01.017.
  8. Nasir K, Budoff M, Wong N et al.Family history of premature coronary heart disease and coronary artery calcification: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).Circulation. 2007 Aug 7;116(6):619-26. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.688739.
  9. Witt et al. Cardiac rehabilitation after myocardial infarction in the community. JACC 2004; 44:988-996. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2004.05.062
  10. Oldridge et al. Cardiac Rehabilitation After Myocardial Infarction – Combined Experience of Randomized Clinical Trials. JAMA 1988;260:945-950. doi: 10.1001/jama.1988.03410070073031
  11. Lavie et al. Cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology in the elderly. Cardiol Clin. Feb 1999;17(1):233-42
  12. Cortes. Determinants of referral to cardiac rehabilitation programmes in patients with coronary artery disease: a systematic review Am Heart J 2006;151:249-256. .doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2005.03.034
  13. WHO Expert Committee on Rehabilitation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 1993;831:1122.
  14. Thomas et al. AACVPR/ACC/AHA 2007 performance measures on cardiac rehabilitation for referral to and delivery of cardiac rehabilitation/secondary prevention services. JACC 2007 Oct 2;50(14):1400-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2007.04.033.
  15. Cannistra et al. Comparison of the clinical profile and outcome of women and men in cardiac rehabilitation. Am J Cardiol. May 15 1992;69(16):1274-9. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(92)91220-X
  16. Giallauria et al. Favourable effects of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation after acute myocardial infarction on left atrial remodeling. Int J Cardiol. Aug 2 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2008.05.026.
  17. Sarrafzadegan et al. Changes in lipid profile of patients referred to a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. Aug 2008;15(4):467-72. doi: 10.1097/HJR.0b013e328300271f.
  18. Bader al. Clinical profile and outcomes of obese patients in cardiac rehabilitation stratified according to National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute criteria. J Cardiopulm Rehabil. Jul-Aug 2001;21(4):210-7
Scroll To Top