Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is done for patients who have undergone cardiac surgery. Cardiac rehabilitation helps to enhance cardiovascular fitness and independence by designing a graduated exercise program to enhance overall functionality.

The various types of Cardiac Surgeries are:

Angioplasty:

A thin flexible tube with a balloon at the tip is inflated at the narrowed part of the artery to widen the narrowed vessel. A stent is then kept there to keep the artery widened.

 Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG):

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is done by using a blood vessel graft taken from the chest, leg, or arm to bypass the blocked or narrowed coronary artery.

 Valve Replacement:

In Valve replacement, the damaged valve is replaced with an artificial valve made of human tissue or carbon fiber.

 Pacemaker:

The pacemaker is an electrical implant that helps to regulate the heartbeat.

The patient going through cardiac rehabilitation develops overall wellbeing:

•  Improves cardiovascular endurance of the muscles of the heart thus supplying enough oxygen to the body during physical activity.
• Improves physical activity and helps burn more calories by involving all muscles of the body.
• Improves daily activities by making physical activities a routine part of daily living.
• Improves physical fitness by generating energy to do all the daily tasks. These fitness exercises are planned, designed, and repeated to improve the  physical fitness
• Improves flexibility, range of movement, and ability of the muscle to lengthen and cross the joints.
• Improves muscular strength and thus can generate the muscle force with a single maximal effort.
• Improves muscular endurance and can sustain repeated contractions against a given resistance.
• Prevents the reoccurrence of cardiac arrest.

 The exercise program includes the following:

• Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise,
• Stretching and
• Strengthening exercises.
• Aerobic exercises

These exercises involve large muscles groups, are done continuously and regularly. It burns calories and increases the heart rate for 10 minutes or more. These exercises play a major role in heart health.

   Cardiac rehabilitation exercises consist of 3 parts:

•  Warm-up or stretching exercises
•  Cardio exercises
•  Strengthening exercises
•  Cool-down exercises

Before starting blood pressure and heart rate are checked, followed by warm-up for 15 minutes, then the patient is asked to start the main exercise. In the end, cool-down exercises for 10 minutes are done which is again followed by checking the blood pressure and heart rate.

F.I.T.T. stands for Frequency, intensity, time, type is often used to provide guidelines for different types of exercises:

 F stands for Frequency means how often the exercises are to be done. Aerobic exercises should be done 5 to 7 days   per week. I stand for Intensity means how hard the exercises should be done. The exercises should be done at a   moderate  intensity, the level at which the patient can carry on a conversation without much effort. T stands for time   means how long the exercises should be done. The exercises should be done without stopping. For long-term goals,   exercises should be done for 30 to 60 minutes per session. Whereas continuous exercise has overall many benefits,   exercise sessions of 10 minutes can be added up throughout the day and aim for 200 to 400 minutes of aerobic   exercise per week. T stands for Type means what kind of activity should be done? Examples of aerobic exercise are   cycling, brisk walking, skating, swimming, cross-country skiing, using equipment such as a stationary cycle,   treadmill,dancing, etc.
 
AIT stands for Aerobic Interval Training is a form of cardiovascular exercise done at alternate periods of intense exercise with less-intense recovery periods. It helps to train the patients safely with various cardiovascular conditions.

Monitoring the exercise level:

While exercising the patient's body should not be pushed too hard, this can be checked by,

Measuring the heart rate (pulse):

Heart rate is the no, of times the heart beats per minute and is an indicator of how hard the patient is working. During exercise, the heart rate increases to supply blood and oxygen.

Effort score:

Monitoring the effort score is also a way of measuring how hard the exercise is, the level of effort is measured by a score chart between 1 and 10.

 During the recovery stage moderate, somewhat strong exercise is recommended, if the effort level is strong, then the exercise is too hard and needs to slow down. The level of exercise should be checked and kept within comfortable limits.

Cardiac rehab helps patients of all ages both men and women, with mild to severe heart problems. Patients suffering from the following ailments can benefit from it:
 

•   Coronary artery disease,
•   Coronary artery bypass surgery,
•   Heart attack,
•   Heart failure,
•   Angioplasty and stents,
•   Heart valve repair or replacement,
•   Angina (chest pain),
•   Peripheral artery disease,
•   Cardiomyopathy,
•   Heart or lung transplant,
•   Pulmonary hypertension etc.