BENEFITS OF CARDIAC REHABILITATION PROGRAM
Image 1: Benefits of cardiac rehabilitation, Source: suvitas.com
Why is cardiac rehabilitation important?
Cardiac rehabilitation is an important aspect of your journey to a healthy recovery, according to pulseuniform.com, CR helps with weight loss, reduces chest pain and reduces the chances for re-hospitalization. It helps you to regain good control of your health (Image 1).
It lowers the risk of fatal heart attack, angina and stroke. On exercising, as the workload increases, the demand for blood by the body is increased, this is usually compensated by increasing blood flow through the body. This movement of blood reduces the chances of deposition of fat in and around the arteries and thereby prevents heart attack or stroke.
It improves blood pressure values and cholesterol level, blood pressure is the amount of pressure your blood exerts on the wall of the artery. Regular exercise helps to maintain the normal blood pressure values.
Reduces the need for medication, Regular exercise improves the blood flow and this will help in easy and rapid distribution of drugs throughout the body. Moreover exercise reduces the elimination of certain medicines from the liver by reducing the blood flow to it.
It improves the likelihood of quitting smoking, regular exercise can help you quit smoking by distracting and keeping you busy until the craving passes.
It increases the ability to exercise longer. An athlete training regularly will be able to walk fast and for a longer distance as compared to a sedentary person. This is because exercise training increases the capacity of the vital organs to work more efficiently and increases the ability to exercise more and for a longer period of time.
Cardiac rehab improves ability to deal with stress, anxiety and depression. Dealing with stress, anxiety and depression can be very difficult and may increase the likelihood of indulging into smoking and drinking. Exercise is a good way to cope with such situations as it uplifts the mood by releasing certain brain chemicals like endorphins and helps you take your mind off worries.
It not only improves the ability to return to work and social abilities but also improves the overall quality of life, Self Confidence, better concentration, more energy to work, , good physical stature, improved body- hand functions, fine motor skills are some of the benefits that you may receive by exercising. The improved ability to return to work and back to normal life is the goal of cardiac rehabilitation which improves overall life quality (Image 2).
Image 2: Benefits of cardiac rehabilitation, Source: pulseuniform.com
IS CARDIAC REHABILITATION WORTH IT?
You can expect a variety of social, mental, educational and health benefits during as well as after the program. After discussion between you and your healthcare provider, a date will be selected on your preference to start the rehab program, where you will be advised how to prepare, what to eat, what to wear and what you should bring with you. Not just this, you will also learn simple home based activities on how to improve your condition slowly day by day to achieve independence, so that you can return to your work easily without any health risks. If in case the goals you agreed during the assessment are not achieved, you can expect your healthcare team to provide you and your family with extra support.