What lifestyles changes should I make after a heart attack?

Cardiovascular specialist Merle Myerson, MD, discusses the lifestyle changes you should implement after having a heart attack.

Transcript

00:00

Consider going to a nutritionist to review your diet and what you can do to have a more heart-healthy diet.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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After a heart attack, we still want to work to prevent you from having another heart attack. That's called secondary prevention

00:20

and it really is just as important as primary prevention. So what should you do after you've had a heart attack?

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You will be on medication specific for your heart, but there are other lifestyle things to do as well.

00:34

Now one very important activity would be cardiac rehabilitation. Your insurance most likely will cover this

00:41

and it generally involves going for about 12 weeks, three sessions a week. So if your health care provider has not

00:49

made arrangements for cardiac rehabilitation, ask him or her to call around and see where it's available in your area.

00:58

Other things you can do-- start a walking program yourself. Look at your diet. Consider going to a nutritionist to review your diet

01:07

and what you can do to have a more heart-healthy diet. Some people find that it's important to reduce

01:13

the stress in their life, although we don't have as much good research telling us about this. But certainly consider if your job is too stressful,

01:22

or other life circumstances are. You may want to work with a professional to see how you can reduce the stress in your life.

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So all of these things are important to do after you've had a heart attack and help you to recover and get

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heart healthy. [AUDIO LOGO]