What can you expect from a cardiac rehab program? A recent analysis examined the findings from 63 studies of cardiac rehabilitation programs that involved more than 21,000 survivors of a heart attack. The results showed that participation in a cardiac rehab program reduced the likelihood of having a second heart attack within the next year by 17 percent; 2 years after the heart attack total mortality decreased by nearly 50 percent.

Like many of my patients, I had always thought that the benefits of cardiac rehab resulted entirely from the supervised exercise. I was surprised to learn from this analysis that the outcomes were just as good for programs that included no exercise but rather focused only on counseling for dietary changes, smoking cessation, and management of blood lipids and high blood pressure.

These findings certainly reinforce the value of cardiac rehab after a heart attack. Despite the results and because I strongly believe in the value of exercise for everyone, I still favor programs that emphasize supervised exercise along with risk factor modification.