Cardiovascular diseases and sports medicine

T he beneficial effects of regular physical activity and exercise training have been elucidated in many animal and human studies over the past 50 years. A majority of studies have demonstrated that regular sports activity and exercise training decrease cardiac mortality and all cause mortality, the recurrence of nonfatal myocardial infarction, and the necessity of revascularization procedures. It has also been shown to improve exercise capacity, psychological functioning, and risk factor management. Patients with cardiovascular disease can safely exercise observing a few instructions. For this, exercise tests need to be done to identify the risk of heart attack resulting from exercise, and high-risk patients need to be under a doctor's supervision while performing exercise training for a certain time. In contrast, low-risk patients can receive exercise prescriptions with basic instructions for exercise training to exercise in their homes. It is important that exercise becomes a regular part of patients pastime activity in order to continuously see the effects of cardio-protection from exercise. Finally, it is important to create an environment where all patients with cardiovascular disease can receive the benefits of cardiovascular rehabilitation. Medical staff should confidently promote cardiovascular rehabilitation and hospitals should be fully equipped with cardiovascular rehabilitation facilities to allow most, if not all, patients with cardiovascular disease to receive systematic treatment immediately after passing through the acute phase.