NEWBERRY — Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of early death among people with diabetes. Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely than people without diabetes to die of heart disease or experience a stroke.
Also, about 70 percent of people with diabetes have high blood pressure, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CDC, 2016).
In Newberry County, 25 percent or more of the population is inactive, more are overweight, and therefore at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. Both are leading causes of death in Newberry County. Of the 490 deaths in the county in 2015, 129 were directly related to cardiac disease or diabetes and its complications, according to the hospital.
Cardiac rehabilitation offers coordinated interventions designed to optimize a cardiac patient’s physical, psychological, and social functioning, in addition to stabilizing, slowing, or even reversing the progression of the underlying disease processes, thereby reducing cardiac deaths.
Comprehensive cardiac rehab has been shown to save lives. Cardiac rehab can reduce re-hospitalization rates, reduce recurrent sudden cardiac death, lessen the need for cardiac medications, and increase the rate of persons returning to work.
Each year about 1 million people survive heart attacks in the United States and more than 7 million people have stable angina, more than 1 million patients have angioplasty a procedure to unblock coronary arteries, and almost half a million patients have bypass surgery (CDC, 2016).
All people with heart disease could benefit from cardiac rehabilitation rehab. The purpose of cardiac rehab is to modify a person’s coronary risk factors and to reduce mortality, morbidity, and functional disability due to cardiovascular illness.
The NCMH Wellness Center offers such a program. Newberry Rehab participants are closely monitored during Phase II and Phase III Cardiac Rehab. The participants are on telemetry throughout their exercise program, monitored closely by specialized nurses and their progress is under physician review.
The safety of medically supervised cardiac rehabilitation exercise programs is well established. Exercise training, as part of a comprehensive rehabilitation program, has been shown to slow the progression or partially reduce the severity of CVD.
Unfortunately, many cardiac rehabilitation programs remain underused with an estimated participation rate of only 10 percent to 20 percent of the more 2 million eligible patients per year who experience an acute myocardial infarction or undergo heart surgery.
It’s concerning that some studies have suggested women who have suffered a recent heart attack or had bypass surgery are less likely to be referred to or participate in a cardiac rehab program (CDC, 2016).
Patients aged 70 years or older are much less likely to participate in cardiac rehab in comparison to younger patients. Recent research demonstrates that physician referral is the most powerful predictor for cardiac rehab enrollment (CDC, 2016).