New Study Shows More People Could Benefit From Cardiac Rehab

August 16, 2016

Cardiac rehabilitation helps patients lose weight, lower their cholesterol, improve diabetes and reduce anxiety and depression after heart related illnesses and procedures. So why aren’t people taking advantage of these programs? A new study finds that only 62 percent of people who are referred to cardiac rehab programs are actually using them.

Why is cardiac rehab so important? These programs are design to help patients regain strength and stay healthy with supervised exercise sessions, education on nutrition, medication and general lifestyle changes and choices.

Hartford Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program has received national accreditation and is staffed by ALS/BLS trained RN’s and cardiovascular exercise physiologists. At Hartford Hospital a team of experts work with patients to track their exercise tolerance as well as factors that reflect lifestyle, diet and exercise adherence and reduction in other cardiac risk factors. All these improvements lead to better outcomes after heart related illness and procedures.

Studies have also shown cardiac rehab to be more effective in reducing death rates after a heart attack than medicine such as beta blockers or statins and also decreasing mortality after myocardial infarction and coronary revascularization.

Do you know someone who could benefit from cardiac rehab? Visit https://hartfordhealthcare.org/services/cardiology-heart-care to learn more.

Video: Grateful for Cardiac Rehab

John Myers didn’t know that his heart was failing. In just nine days, he survived two heart attacks and would undergo quadruple bypass surgery at Hartford Hospital. Watch him read a special poem to the team at cardiac rehab that helped him through such a difficult time.