By Dr. Stuart Smalheiser
Beaufort Memorial Heart Specialists
Compared to the 1950s, Americans today are more than four times as likely to survive a heart attack, according to the American Heart Association. This means that for people of the same age, the annual risk of dying from cardiovascular disease is now just one-quarter what it was in 1950.
When new treatment options give you a second chance at life, heart attack recovery helps you make the most of the future. Cardiac rehabilitation can help you live a full, normal life on the other side of a heart attack.
People have much better opportunities to manage heart attacks and prevent future events than in years past. As a result, they’re surviving their life-changing events and moving forward. Cardiac rehab then helps them make the most of life after a heart attack.
Cardiac rehab & heart attack recovery
A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart is cut off. Without enough oxygen-rich blood, your heart muscle begins to suffer injury. The longer your heart goes without this blood, the more damage it sustains.
Proper treatment restores blood flow to the heart. Once the immediate threat to your heart is stopped, it’s time to begin recovery.
To recover from a heart attack, you may need to do one or more of the following:
- Adopt healthy eating habits
- Lower your stress levels
- Obtain a healthy weight
- Strengthen your heart
Through cardiac rehab, you learn to understand what a heart-healthy lifestyle is and regain the confidence to go move forward with life. Rehab basically jump starts your recovery process. It points you toward improved health and gets you moving in that direction.
Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program that helps you recover from a heart attack. When you join a cardiac rehabilitation program, your care team first evaluates your needs. They then develop a treatment plan to address your needs and reach your goals.
To help you move toward good health as soon as possible, rehab begins while you’re still in the hospital. Rehab then continues in the weeks following discharge.
Throughout your rehab experience, your expert team works to help you return to work and life and prevent future heart problems through the following:
- Counseling — It’s normal to feel depressed, angry or afraid after a heart attack. Your care team can help you manage these feelings and refer you to an adult mental health specialist, if appropriate. They can also protect your heart by helping you identify sources of stress and learn healthy ways to reduce or manage it.
- Education — Knowledge is power and plays a key role in heart attack recovery. In rehabilitation, you learn skills for preventing another heart attack and improving your overall health.
- Exercise — Physical therapists and other exercise pros guide you through specific physical activities. These aim to help strengthen your entire body, especially your heart.
After completing your official heart attack recovery program, you can continue your rehabilitation journey at the Beaufort Memorial LifeFit Wellness Center. By becoming a member, you can continue exercising in a safe environment where medical expertise is readily available.
Your role in heart attack recovery
It can take a few weeks or months to develop a new baseline of activity. Your healthcare team can help you determine when it’s safe to go back to work, resume sexual activity and restart other activities. There are many people who complete cardiac rehab that can do more after their heart attack then before.”
In the meantime, don’t limit your recovery efforts to rehabilitation sessions. Take control of your good health every day with these tips.
When working toward heart attack recovery, you are your greatest advocate, so speak up when something seems off and commit to making the suggested lifestyle changes. When you slip up, own up to your mistakes and start your healthy habits again.
Do this day after day, year after year, and you give yourself the best shot at a full recovery that lasts a lifetime.
Stuart Smalheiser, M.D., is a board-certified interventional cardiologist with Beaufort Memorial Heart Specialists, specializing in advanced heart attack care, nuclear cardiology and cardiovascular disease.