Cardiac rehab can prolong patients' lives and reduce risk of second heart attack

Twenty-eight year-old Alex Holton is an active young Torontonian, but five years ago, shortly after receiving life-saving heart surgery, Alex Holton was unsure he'd ever be active again.

In 2006, Alex developed an eight-centimeter dissection in his ascending aorta, a potentially life-threatening condition where there is bleeding into and along the wall of the aorta, the major artery carrying blood out of the heart. Within 48 hours, surgeons at Toronto's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC) swiftly operated and successfully repaired Alex's aorta.

Alex soon came to discover that his surgery was only the first step on his road to recovery. After the operation, he had a hard time functioning, couldn't walk and had doubts he'd ever walk again.

"I've always considered myself to be an active person, but post surgery, I lost all confidence in my ability [to be] an active person. Worrying about harming myself through activity really started to prevent me from fully recovering," says Alex, who was referred to PMCC's Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Prevention Program (Cardiac Rehab) located at Toronto Western Hospital, shortly after his surgery.

"Cardiac rehab gave me access to exercise equipment in a safe environment monitored by health care professionals and provided me with a judgment-free space full of people who share similar experiences," says Alex, who recognizes the program's role in physical recovery, but says it's also crucial for psychological healing.

"Many cardiac patients interpret regular exercise symptoms - such as elevated heart rate and sweating - differently after their incident," says Dr. Adrienne Kovacs, Clinical Psychologist in PMCC. "Part of their rehabilitation involves regularly exposing patients to these symptoms so they can gradually confront them and become comfortable experiencing them."

"Rehab helped normalize my perspective on my health. Exercising with individuals who had been through what I had helped me accept that recovery and a normal life were obtainable goals and that I wasn't the only one shooting for them," says Alex.

This summer, Alex is cycling across Canada to raise awareness about cardiac rehab's important role in physical and psychological recovery after heart surgery, as well as raising funds for graduate scholarships in cardiac rehabilitation.

Studies indicate that participating in cardiac rehab can reduce the risk of death by approximately 25 per cent, a reduction similar to that of other standard therapies such as cholesterol-lowering medications (statins) and aspirin. However, only 20 to 30 per cent of patients are referred to a cardiac rehabilitation program after hospital discharge, a phenomenon observed in Canada and around the world.

"Cardiac rehab can prolong patients' lives and reduce their risk of having a second heart attack, or needing a second heart surgery," says Dr. Caroline Chessex, Clinical Director of the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Prevention Program at PMCC, who is part of a multidisciplinary team that develops personalized exercise programs for patients like Alex that are tailored to each patient's individual cardiac risk profile.

While Drs. Chessex and Kovacs did not treat Alex during his time at PMCC, they note that many Cardiac Rehab patients come out of the experience ready to give back to society. Similar to Alex, many patients become even more resilient following their rehab, but recovery takes time.

Source: Peter Munk Cardiac Centre