Heart disease health centre

Heart disease: Living with heart disease

Coronary artery disease is a chronic disease with no cure. When you have coronary artery disease, it is important to take good care of your heart for the rest of your life. This is especially true if you have had any kind of procedure or surgery to improve blood flow to the heart. Procedures do not cure coronary artery disease. It is up to you to take steps to stop the disease from getting worse.

Here are some steps you can take to make living with heart disease easier:

• Recognise the symptoms. Seek urgent medical advice or call an ambulance if symptoms become more frequent or severe, if rest and/or your medicines do not relieve your symptoms within 15 minutes. DO NOT WAIT TO GET HELP!
• Reduce yourrisk factors. The more risk factors you have, the greater the risk is of you developing future heart problems.
• Take your medicines. Your medicines are used to control your symptoms and help your heart work more efficiently. Follow your doctor's instructions when you take your medicines.
• See your doctor for regular check-ups. Be sure to attend any outpatient appointments your consultant sends you and see your doctor regularly, even if you have no symptoms. Your outpatient appointments may be once a year or more frequent if your consultant feels you need to be followed more closely.

How can I reduce my risk factors?

Making the necessary lifestyle changes is not easy. It takes dedication and discipline to stop smoking, eat a healthy diet, and master techniques that will reduce your stress. The following tips may help get you started. But, it's a good idea to seek help from dieticians, doctors and support groups to keep you on track.

Regardless of the lifestyle change you are trying to make:

• Have a plan before starting.
• Create realistic goals for yourself.
• Master one change at a time (for example, stop smoking before changing your diet).
• Write a formal or informal contract to strengthen your commitment to make the necessary lifestyle changes.
• Prepare for lapses and relapses. Don't be too hard on yourself when this happens.
• Be sure to reward yourself when you do well (this doesn't mean treating yourself to fish and chips).
• Make sure you have plenty of support from your friends and family. Seek the help of support groups. Also, talk to your doctor about participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program.