BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A TOTAL of 120 patients from 16 groups of low risk cardiac patients and seven groups of high risk cardiac patients were invited to join the annual Phase Three outing activity with their families at Sultan Hj Hassanal Bolkiah Silver Jubilee Park in the capital yesterday.

The programme was organised by the Cardiac Rehabilitation Team with the support from the Cardiology Centre and Ambulance Service of Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital.

“This approach will further enhance their confidence and empower them and their families to look after their own heart health to prevent future heart attack,” said a statement provided by the Ministry of Health.

The event also aims to expose the local parks and recreation areas to people with heart diseases, their family and friends as a safe place to carry out their exercise.

According to Brunei Health Information Booklet 2013, the top five leading causes of death in the country are cancer, heart diseases, diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular diseases and hypertensive diseases.

All of these causes are preventable and they are also call non-communicable diseases, it added.

The statement also said heart diseases are by far the most expensive diseases to treat. It takes up large amount of annual health budget to treat and maintain individuals with heart diseases.

Many individuals who survived the horrific experiences of a heart attack are able to live in the community with good quality of life after they had gone through emergency care; advance surgical intervention that can cost from $50,000 to 100,000 per person and medication costing from $500 to $1000 per month; and cardiac rehabilitation.

The cardiac rehabilitation is a programme that helps increase a person physical fitness, prevent second heart attack and improve quality of life in the most cost effective manner.

In Brunei, cardiac rehabilitation programme is offered to two groups of individuals, the high and low risk. High risk group are for people with heart failure. Their heart is weak hence they need many medications to help stabilise their condition.

The cardiac rehabilitation provides education sessions to concentrate on self-management and provide exercise sessions to improve and maintain their physical health.

Meanwhile, the low risk group are for people whose blocked heart artery or arteries by fatty substance being successfully opened by medication, ballooning, stenting or bypass graft surgery. After these procedures, the doctor will advise these individuals to change their lifestyle by eating healthy, stopping smoking, being active and taking prescribed medication.

They are then referred by the cardiologists after been assessed by the cardiologists the fitness to undergo this cardiac rehabilitation programme.

Phase One is where patients are being seen in coronary care unit and Phase Two is outpatient appointment to attend supervise exercise and education sessions to learn the risk factors causing heart attack and its prevention.

Phase Three is where patients need to maintain their heart health by practising the information learned in Phase Two.

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Team urged cardiac patients who had completed the Phase Two programme to continue exercising, eating healthy and taking their medication to care for their heart.

Regular exercise has shown to reduce the overall risk of cardiovascular events by 50 per cent, the statement said.

For further information about the cardiac rehabilitation programme, please contact the Cardiac Rehabilitation Team at RIPAS Hospital, 2242424 extensions 5730 or 5818.

The Brunei Times