Benefits of Cardiac Rehab

Baptist Health La Grange: Benefits of Cardiac Rehab

Cardiologist REBECCA MCFARLAND talks about the importance of participating in cardiac rehabilitation after surgery, describing the advantages of an exercise program supervised by health professionals.

Benefits of Cardiac Rehab Health Talks Transcript

Rebecca M. McFarland, MD, Cardiology
Cardiac rehabilitation is a program that’s recommended for anyone who has had open heart surgery, whether that’s valve replacement or bypass surgery. It’s also recommended for people who have had myocardial infarctions, or coronary stints or angioplasty. During cardiac rehab, a patient is exercising on several different exercise equipment pieces that are available. What happens during exercise is that the heart rate and blood pressure are monitored. The nurses are able to follow all this so that if there’s something adverse that happens with exercise, immediately we know, and we’re able to make changes to make a more safe environment for the patient.

Bill Hoelscher, La Grange
I toyed with the idea of going to a gym, but these people here are medical professionals. They do blood pressure work and that kind of stuff. I feel if in fact I do develop a problem, they’re going to find it, not the person at the gym.

Dr. McFarland
They like the feeling of the safety they get, with exercising with somebody watching, specifically the nursing staff, and being able to ask questions and have them answer it in a timely fashion. And, there’s a social aspect to that. They feel like they’re with a group of peers who understand what they’ve been through, so there’s a lot of support for them in that environment.

Hoelscher
The people who come here understand that it’s up to them to do it. They have to give a personal effort to make this thing work, and the people here do a great job. Why go anywhere else?