What is cardiac rehabilitation?

Cardiac rehabilitation is physician-supervised, often times physician-prescribed, program for people who have either congenital or acquired heart disease. Program participants may or may not have had a heart attack or heart surgery (or other heart procedures). Cardiac rehabilitation can often improve functional capacity, reduce symptoms, and create a sense of well-being for patients.

What conditions may benefit from cardiac rehabilitation?
Conditions or cardiac procedures that may necessitate cardiac rehabilitation may include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• congestive heart failure 

• angina pectoris 

• myocardial infarction 

• post-open heart surgery 

• post-heart transplantation 

• balloon angioplasty 

• pacemaker 

• congenital heart disease 

• arrhythmias 

• rheumatic heart disease 

The cardiac rehabilitation program:
A cardiac rehabilitation program is designed to meet the needs of the individual patient, depending upon the specific heart problem or disease, and should be supervised by a cardiac physician and a cardiac team of professionals.

The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to help patients reverse their symptoms and maximize cardiac function. Cardiac rehabilitation includes, but is not limited to, the following activities: