My Healthy Heart Blogs
Cardiac Rehabilitation Effective, Underused
09/24/07
Treatment Options
Cardiac rehabilitation, a heart disease treatment plan that has been shown to prevent more than a quarter of heart-disease related deaths, is "vastly underutilized," according to an article published in Circulation.
For sufferers of heart attack (myocardial infarction), bypass surgery, acute coronary syndrome, heart valve surgical repair or replacement, stable angina, transplant surgery, or percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty), cardiac rehabilitation is an important part of recovery. However, less than a third of the eligible patients are put on a treatment plan, according to the article in Circulation. The article urges physicians to refer more eligible patients for cardiac rehabilitation programs. The authors also suggest that minimum performance standards be developed and put in place for such programs.
Cardiac rehabilitation is a treatment plan for cardiac disease sufferers that combines exercise with heart health education and psychological support. A meta analysis conducted by the Cochrane Library found that exercise alone reduced mortality rates by 31 percent, while a complete cardiac rehabilitation reduced deaths by 26 percent. Those researchers concluded that "exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is effective in reducing cardiac deaths."
Sources:
Physicians First Watch, September 21, 2007
Circulation, September 24, 2007
The Cochrane Library, January 22, 2001
