Exercise & Heart Disease

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

30 May 2006 07:15 PM

As you may well know, exercise plays a key role for helping to prevent heart disease and to help someone with heart disease to rehabilitate their heart after an attack or surgery. The positive influence of exercise on lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure as well as helping to reduce weight and the risk for diabetes all play a vital role in improving heart health.

The most common form of cardiovascular disease is coronary artery disease. Cardiovascular disease includes conditions such as congestive heart failure, stroke and hypertension. Coronary artery disease is a very gradual process that causes the arteries leading to the heart to narrow. Blockages can be caused by calcium and cholesterol. When the arteries are restricted or narrowed in this fashion, the blood flow is unable to meet the needs of the heart. Clots can form and lead to a heart attack.

Diagnosed with Coronary Artery Disease?

Chances are your doctor has already recommended that you should begin a cardiac rehabilitation program. These are specialized fitness programs that you can perform under the monitored care and supervision of trained physiologists and nurses. While you may be allowed to start a program on your own, you should always consult with your physician or cardiologist about the safety guidelines and instructions you should follow for your cardiac rehabilitation.

In general, the following guidelines are a good rule of thumb for you to follow when dealing with exercise coronary artery disease and cardiac rehabilitiation:

• First and foremost: if you have had a heart attack or heart surgery you need to get medical clearance from your cardiologist before considering increasing your activity level
• You should obtain guidelines for a recommended fitness program
• Follow their advice closely and obediently, monitor your exercise intensity and stay within the heart-rate zone that the physician has determined
• You will want to try and exercise 3 to 4 times per week
• Your fitness level post-cardiac attack will determine the length of exercise from 5 to 10 minutes to 20 to 30 minutes
• You should keep your physician in the loop at all times, making note of all symptoms from chest pain to fatigue to labored breathing
• If your doctor prescribed nitroglycerin for your condition, be sure to keep it with you at all times
• If you experience serious chest pain during exercise, call 911 immediately

No matter how low your activity levels were or are, there is no such thing as too late to get started on a fitness program. If a man who has had a quadruple bypass can begin a regular fitness program and improve his physical health and heart health - then what's stopping you?

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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