Coronary Heart Disease Recovery

Although there is no cure for coronary heart disease, modern treatments, along with healthy lifestyle choices, can greatly reduce your risk of further heart problems, aid in coronary heart disease recovery and relieve or control symptoms such as angina.

The most important things you can do to reduce your risk and aid coronary heart disese recovery are:

  • Take your medications as prescribed by your doctor
  • Be smoke free
  • Enjoy healthy eating
  • Be physically active
  • Control blood pressure
  • Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight

If you have diabetes, you should also aim to keep your blood glucose levels within the normal non-diabetic range. Regular diabetes reviews with your doctor can help you achieve this.

Managing My Heart Health - a resource for people with or at high risk of coronary heart disease
Managing My Heart Health is an interactive resource to help you improve your heart health and reduce the risk of further heart problems. It

• provides tools to help you take action on your important heart health goals.
• includes vital information on heart health related lifestyle, medical and psychological issues.

Managing My Heart Health contains action plans, a medicines card and a handy self-monitoring card (Managing My Heart Health At A Glance) which helps you and your health professional keep track of your progress.

Managing My Heart Health is available free of charge for single copies. To order, call us on 1300 36 27 87 or by email.

Additional copies of Managing My Heart Health At A Glance self-monitoring card can be downloaded from this page (see Resources below).

Cardiac rehabilitation
The Heart Foundation and the World Health Organization recommend that all those who have had a heart attack, heart surgery, coronary angioplasty, angina or other heart or blood vessel disease are routinely referred to an appropriate cardiac rehabilitation and prevention program.

These programs are designed to help you make practical, potentially life-saving changes to the way you live. They can provide you and your family with education, information, physical activity programs and support, which can complement the help you receive from your GP and/or cardiologist.

Resources 
Managing My Heart Health At A Glance - Self-monitoring card (2007)
Black-and-white version  Download 
Full colour version  Download