The Importance of Cardiac Rehabilitation for Patients with Heart Disease in Korea

Cardiovascular disease is fatal enough to occupy the 2nd leading cause of death in Korea. It is taken for granted to treat heart disease itself with various surgeries and procedures performed by cardiology and thoracic surgery departments, but not many patients and guardians are aware that cardiac rehabilitation is absolutely necessary. This is one of the reasons for the very low participation rate in cardiac rehabilitation treatment.

People with heart disease belong to a high-risk group that can recur at any time because most of the cardiovascular vessels are already diseased. According to a 10-year follow-up study of myocardial infarction patients at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, those who participated in cardiac rehabilitation had a 47% lower mortality rate and a 25% lower readmission rate than those who did not.

The results of studies conducted in Korea were not significantly different from this. In other words, after myocardial infarction or angina pectoris, it is necessary to go through cardiac rehabilitation treatment to reduce the risk of disease recurrence and death, as well as recovering to normal by opening clogged blood vessels and getting rid of chest pain.

Risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity, lack of physical activity, excessive stress, and depression, can be removed with appropriate medication and lifestyle changes. In particular, regular physical activity is essential for patients with heart disease. Cardiac rehabilitation is what helps you perform safe exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Cardiorespiratory endurance, or maximum oxygen consumption, increases when cardiorespiratory rehabilitation is performed, increasing the intensity of exercise without symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, or fatigue, resulting in faster recovery and more productive participation in daily life.

In addition, blood cholesterol levels are lowered, which helps prevent coronary artery disease. Cardiac rehabilitation can be said to play a role in improving quality of life by preventing heart disease from the beginning and finding and correcting risk factors to prevent recurrence.

However, in general, patients with cardiovascular disease have shortness of breath and lack of energy due to a decrease in cardiopulmonary exercise function, and avoid exercise due to easy fatigue or anxiety about exercise. Even if you exercise, if the intensity is weak, the effect is low, and if the intensity is high, blood pressure and pulse rate rise excessively, which not only puts a burden on the heart but can also cause dangerous situations.

Therefore, in order to perform effective exercise at an appropriate intensity, a customized exercise prescription according to the individual patient’s condition is required. This is the same as having to change the choice of drug or increase or decrease the dose of the same drug depending on blood sugar or blood pressure levels.

Cardiac rehabilitation treatment confirms the risk of heart attack through a screening test, and secures safety by conducting exercise under monitoring in the hospital for a certain period of time for patients belonging to the high-risk group. For patients in the low-risk group, self-exercises are performed at home after basic exercise training along with individualized exercise prescriptions suitable for the patient’s cardiorespiratory endurance level.

Cardiovascular Center of Yongin Severance Hospital has been actively implementing such a systematic cardiac rehabilitation treatment program with cooperation among specialists in cardiology, thoracic surgery, and rehabilitation medicine since the opening of the hospital.

As such, although the effectiveness and safety of cardiac rehabilitation have been proven worldwide, the participation rate is very low due to various reasons that interfere with treatment. There are very few hospitals capable of cardiac rehabilitation in Korea, and patients’ awareness of cardiac rehabilitation is also insufficient.

There are also various obstacles such as time difficulties, transportation inconveniences, and the absence of guardians. As cardiac rehabilitation treatment is not an option but an essential element for patients with cardiovascular disease, it is hoped that awareness of the need for cardiac rehabilitation and improvement of the treatment environment will help more patients improve their quality of life.