Should I do cardiac rehab?

As a clinician who has studied and worked in cardiac rehabilitation for many years, I am biased in my view of completing a cardiac rehabilitation course. I know that it will reduce anyone’s risk of another cardiac event, it can extend your life by 5 years but not only that it will improve the quality of your life within those new life years.  These facts generally don’t convince many to do cardiac rehabilitation but someone said something to me last week and it really was profound. He summed it up in one sentence

‘It will stop you looking over your shoulder’

He meant that he had watched a close friend of his changing his behaviour after a significant cardiac event and he attributed it to his friend not doing cardiac rehab.  His friend had stopped living his life because he felt he could not control another event happening,.

This for me really hit the nail on the head.

After your cardiac event engaging with healthcare professionals and partnering with them in regaining your heart health is self empowering.

Cardiac rehabilitation is no longer a teacher student situation and while there is always a lot of learning on both sides – it is really a partnership formed to optimize your overall outcome from your procedure or medications. This means that you will feel as good as you can and sometimes better that you did pre your cardiac event.

After the last three years of uncertainty – the one certainty remains – cardiac rehabilitation is an essential part of your cardiac care.

What others are saying?