A Water-Based Exercise Program for Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

摘要

Cardiac rehabilitation programs were first implemented in the 1960s, when it had become apparent that prolonged bed rest following acute myocardial infarction (MI) led to greater death and disability than when patients received early mobilization. Hospital stay for MI in the current era of early revascularization and aggressive pharmacological therapy can be as short as 3-4 days. For many patients, knowledge and understanding of their illness and the measures required to prevent a recurrence are first gained during formal post-hospitalization cardiac rehabilitation programs. Such programs are now employed routinely by cardiologists throughout the world as an aid to recovery for these patients.