Rehab Select Blog

Cardiac therapy is often recommended for people who have heart disease, and/or had some sort of cardiac event like a heart attack. Cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, and heart failure patients can also often benefit from this therapy, to increase survival and improve quality of life.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiac rehab programs containthree essential parts: 

• Exercise counseling and training 
• Education for heart-healthy living 
• Counseling to reduce stress 

A fall can be an unpleasant situation for anyone. For a senior citizen or someone with a physical injury or disability, however, this type of situation can be a disastrous one that leads to significant damage. The bathroom is a particularly dangerous area in which falls can happen, for two main reasons: surfaces in bathrooms, including floors, are usually hard and slick; and people generally use water in bathrooms, which can make these slick surfaces even more slippery. Luckily, there are a few fall prevention tips that can be followed to minimize the risk of falling while in the bathroom.

Falling is the number one cause of injuries – and injury death – among older Americans. It is somewhat shocking to discover that roughly one third of seniors in the United States experience a fall of some type every year that results in a trip to a hospital emergency room. In fact, fall related injuries have become so common for seniors that many physicians think of it as an epidemic, annually damaging the health of millions of otherwise healthy Americans.

Your home is your safe haven, and you have lived there for years. It stands to reason that it would also be the safest place to be as you grow older. You know every inch of your familiar home, so there are no surprises, no unforeseen risks that could cause falls, right?

Not necessarily. In fact, because you are so familiar with your home and therefore think you don't have to take precautions, falling can actually become even more of a risk. It doesn't have to be, though.

The combination of water and hard surfaces makes the bathroom the most likely room in the house for slip and fall accidents. That combination can create serious fall hazards for seniors in particular, since bones lose strength and density with age, increasing the risk of serious injuries when accidents do occur. Plus, eyesight, balance and coordination issues that affect many of us with aging make such incidents more likely.

If you have been diagnosed with heart disease, you doubtless have already been told that you will need to make some changes in your lifestyle to improve your health and well-being. Whether that diagnosis came by way of your routine annual health exam or by means of a cardiac event, cardiac rehabilitation may be your best bet for making those changes quickly and, most importantly, effectively. Here, we will explain what cardiac rehab is and how it can benefit individuals who have been diagnosed with heart disease.

A stroke is one of the most serious medical conditions that a person can experience. During a stroke, blood clots or constricted vessels in the brain prevent its nerve cells from getting the nutrients they need: as a result, these cells begin to die off. Having a stroke can cause symptoms like vision loss, difficulty talking or walking, trouble with the use of muscles, and other serious conditions. In the worst cases, it can even mean death.

Your heart is one of the most important muscles in your body. A properly-functioning heart allows you to enjoy exercise and other fun physical activities with your loved ones. Unfortunately, heart disease, a condition where the blood vessels leading to the heart get clogged with plaque, fat, and calcium, can wreak havoc on a person’s heart and cardiac system.

Acute myocardial infarction is the medical term for what is commonly known as a heart attack. This cardiovascular event occurs when one of the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart, becomes blocked. This causes blood flow to the heart to be suddenly cut off or critically reduced, leading to tissue damage in the heart that can result in significant impairment of heart function or death.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart becomes less efficient at pumping blood, resulting in slower movement of blood through the heart and body and increased pressure in the heart. A number of underlying conditions can cause CHF by damaging the heart muscle. Some conditions that lead to CHF can be reversed and others can be controlled, and treatment goals generally include addressing its underlying causes, slowing progression of CHF, and improving symptoms.