Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation

Lifestyle measures, particularly dietary factors, are equally important in preventing heart attacks and must be strenuously adhered to.

Physical Activity and Rehabilitation

Physical rehabilitation is extremely important after a heart attack. It has been associated with a 25% reduction in mortality rates at 3 years. Rehabilitation may include:

• Leg exercises may start as early as the first day. The patient usually sits in a chair on the second day, and begins to walk on the second or third day.
• Most patients undergo low-level exercise tolerance tests early in their recovery. One study suggests that exercise testing within 3 days after a relatively minor attack may allow patients to go home earlier.
• After 8 to 12 weeks, many patients, even those with heart failure, benefit from supervised exercise programs. Health professionals should provide the patient with schedules for low-level aerobic home-activity. Strength (resistance) training is also important. Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art, appears to be very beneficial and safe for people after a heart attack. It should be noted that the risk for serious heart events during rehabilitation is very low.

Patients generally return to work in about 2 months, although timing can vary depending on the severity of the condition.

Sexual activity after a heart attack carries a very low risk and is believed to be safe, particularly in people who had exercised regularly before the attack. In any case, the feelings of intimacy and love that accompany healthy sex can help offset depression, a far greater risk for a future attack.

Emotional Rehabilitation

Major depression affects between 15 - 23% of patients with ACS or heart attacks. Many studies suggest that depression is a major predictor for increased mortality in both women and men. (One reason may be that depressed patients are less likely to comply with their heart medications.)

Psychotherapeutic techniques, especially cognitive behavioral therapies, are very helpful. Doctors have been reluctant to prescribe antidepressant drugs after ACS or a heart attack because older antidepressants tended to have adverse effects on the heart. Newer antidepressants may be safer. Studies on sertraline (Zoloft), one of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, have not reported harmful effects for patients who have had a heart attack. It is not yet clear if other SSRIs are equally safe and effective.