Did You or a Loved One Skip Cardiac Rehab?

For people who have had a heart attack or cardiac procedure, cardiac rehabilitation decreases the risk for heart attacks, death, and the need for future cardiac procedures by an incredible 20-25%, yet only about 20% of Americans who are eligible go to cardiac rehab.

I spoke on this topic this month at the American Academy of Family Physicians annual assembly with nearly 5,000 physicians in Orlando, Florida.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of major illness and/or death both globally and in the USA. It is remarkably amenable to secondary prevention measures, such as cardiac rehab, which often are underutilized. Heart attack and stroke rates dropped from the 1980s until recently, largely from statin medication use, but event rates are projected by the American Heart Association to climb again despite multiple aggressive treatments being developed, largely from increasing rates of obesity and pre-diabetes. In other words, our current American lifestyle is killing us faster than technology can save us.

Cardiac rehab is a comprehensive, longterm program involving medical evaluation, prescribed exercise, cardiac risk factor modification, nutrition education, and counseling. It is designed to reduce physiological & psychological effects of cardiovascular disease, reduce the risk for sudden death and/or repeat heart attacks, control cardiac symptoms, and enhance psychosocial & vocational status. Participants typically attend 1-2 sessions per week over a 12-week program, then return to the care of their physician.

I feel fortunate that we offer this type of proactive educational program to all our patients at the Masley Optimal Health Center, yet most of my patient’s relatives miss out.

Who Qualifies for Cardiac Rehab?

If you or a relative meet the following criteria, you would qualify for cardiac rehab and likely your insurance would pay for your participation too.

Heart attack within the preceding 12 months
Coronary artery bypass surgery (no time limitations)
Coronary angioplasty or cardiac stenting procedure (no time limitations)
Current stable angina
Class III or IV congestive heart failure unresponsive to medical therapy
Heart or heart-lung transplant, or heart valve repair/replacement
Sustained ventricular tachycardia

Why Don’t People Attend Cardiac Rehab if they Qualify?

The number one reason people don’t attend cardiac rehab is that their physician doesn’t refer them. I have discussed this with various physicians, but nobody understands why referral rates are so poor. It may be that hospital physicians assume the primary care doctors will take care of it, and the primary care thinks the hospitalists will do the same, but nobody really knows for sure.

Other barriers to enrolling in cardiac rehab are advanced age, very poor fitness, and not having medical insurance to cover these services. Although people with advanced age and poor fitness benefit greatly from attending.

We do know that if the physicians tells their patients (face to face) that cardiac rehab will benefit them, they are much more likely to attend. If the physician or someone on the doctor’s team also calls the patients family and/or spouse and encourages attendance, they are even more likely to enroll, even if they are elderly or have poor fitness.

Obviously physicians can do a better job, but families can also make a huge difference by requesting (insisting upon) cardiac rehab when people qualify.

The Ten Years Younger Program was Designed to Prevent and Reverse Cardiovascular Disease.

Keep in mind that the Ten Years Younger Program was originally designed as a program to reverse heart disease and reverse type 2 diabetes; it was the Discovery Show that recommended changing the name of this program to Ten Years Younger. The bottom line is that the principles behind Ten Years Younger will help to reverse cardiovascular disease and help to prevent future heart attacks and strokes.

For details, please CLICK HERE to view my article on preventing a heart attack or stroke.

Share and Enjoy: