Abrazo Health promotes cardiac rehab in getting heart patients active

Abrazo Arrowhead Campus and Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation services prioritize changes in a patient’s lifestyle along with heart procedures and medications to be most effective in managing heart health.

Cardiac rehabilitation helps reduce the risk of a future cardiac event by stabilizing, slowing, or even reversing the progression of cardiovascular disease, a press release explained.

Cardiac rehabilitation includes personalized, medically supervised exercise training and heart-healthy education for patients with a variety of cardiovascular conditions. And because the rehab gym is housed at the hospital, it’s a safe environment for those feeling a little worried about returning to activity after a cardiac event, the release added.

Sessions vary in length of time and frequency depending on each patient’s unique needs. All sessions are supervised by an exercise physiologist or a nurse.

“Some patients are recovering from heart attacks, while others have congenital defects, cardiomyopathy, valve disorders and other conditions,” Cindy Moran, a clinical exercise physiologist in the cardiac rehab departments at Abrazo Arrowhead Campus and Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital, stated in the release

Each year, roughly 935,000 Americans will have a coronary event, and more than 30% will have a second and potentially fatal one, according to the American Heart Association.

Clinical research has shown cardiac rehabilitation reduces mortality by more than 50% compared with those patients who do not participate, according to the AHA. The AHA also notes that participation in cardiac rehab can reduce the likelihood of hospital readmissions.

“Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the most successful preventive measures and still one of the most underutilized services, Moran stated. “Not only do we want to educate our patients about the physical benefits of cardiac rehab, but the tremendous social benefits as well.”

Benefits of cardiac rehabilitation may include:

• A 25% reduction in all-cause mortality rates;
• Increased exercise performance;
• Enhanced ability to perform daily living activities;
• Improved health-related quality of life;
• Reduced hospitalizations and use of medical resources and
• Increased ability to return to work or engage in leisure activities.

For information about Abrazo Arrowhead Campus, Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital or to find a doctor, visit AbrazoHealth.com.