Mr. Li, 39 years old, 3 years ago had paroxysmal chest tightness and pain, sweating profusely 3 years ago, came to Shenyang Red Cross Hospital for treatment, diagnosed with "acute inferior myocardial infarction", immediately underwent emergency interventional surgery, implanted a stent, had other blood vessel stenosis, regular oral medication after surgery, but Mr. Li still had chest tightness, walking 500 meters and needed to rest and other symptoms, the doctor recommended Mr. Li to have regular cardiac rehabilitation treatment, including exercise cardiopulmonary test, aerobic exercise and resistance exercise. After completing 24 cardiac rehabilitation treatments, Mr. Li's heart function has improved significantly and he has returned to normal work and life.
According to the report, cardiovascular diseases accounted for 46.74% and 44.26% of the causes of death in mainland China in 2019, respectively, with an average of two deaths out of every five deaths. The high prevalence of cardiovascular disease is a public health challenge we are facing, and if we can advance the prevention of cardiovascular disease, reduce the occurrence of related risk factors through active life conditioning, primary prevention, and do a good job in secondary prevention and medical resource allocation, etc., are all important aspects to reduce the number of cardiovascular diseases and the risk of death in mainland China. Therefore, it is especially important to prevent heart disease before it occurs and to maintain it after heart disease.
So how should we take care of our heart, which is inseparable from the concept of cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiac rehabilitation is gaining traction and plays an important role in improving patient outcomes, including reducing rehospitalization rates, improving survival rates, and improving quality of life. Through regular and scientific cardiac rehabilitation, the clinical discomfort of patients can be reduced, the activity endurance of patients can be improved, and the disability rate of heart disease patients can be reduced, so that they can smoothly return to social life. How do we do cardiac rehabilitation in the spring?
1. Medication
Drug therapy is a core part of the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and it is also an important guarantee for cardiac rehabilitation. For heart disease such as coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, the emphasis is on the secondary prevention of the disease, in addition to the routine improvement of various bad habits, such as quitting smoking, diet control, etc., drug treatment is very important, and standardized treatment programs such as antiplatelet aggregation, lipid lowering, plaque stabilization, and myocardial oxygen consumption reduction are given. Of course, on the basis of conventional standardized treatment, if the drug treatment is optimized according to the patient's condition, the combination of Chinese and Western medicines and the individualized treatment plan suitable for each patient can effectively reduce the occurrence of acute cardiovascular events and effectively improve the prognosis of patients.
2. Exercise therapy
Exercise therapy also plays an integral role in cardiac rehabilitation. There is a very professional term in cardiac rehabilitation called exercise prescription, which mainly includes exercise form, exercise intensity, duration, exercise frequency and other indicators. Each of these prescriptions should be tailored to the specific situation of the patient, which also reflects the individualized principle of cardiac rehabilitation.
3. Dietary therapy
For patients with underlying heart diseases, modern medicine advocates a low-salt and low-fat diet, and doctors will also formulate targeted dietary plans for people with metabolic abnormalities.
4. Emotional management
It is well known that emotions are a crucial trigger for the onset or exacerbation of heart disease. Negative emotions such as anxiety, melancholy, sadness, etc. can excite the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in a series of neuroendocrine reactions, which can eventually lead to cardiovascular events, such as myocardial ischemia, arrhythmia and other diseases, and even affect life safety in serious cases. So we need to be calm and cheerful and optimistic.
We need to take good care of our hearts, and cardiac rehabilitation can help heart patients return to normal social life.
Author: Wang Wenhong
Source: Shenyang Red Cross Hospital
Editor: Huang Di
Proofreading: Yang Dongni, Chen Zeming
Preliminary review: Xue Bing
Review: Xu Jiang