Healthy lifestyle, adequate care, check-ups. These are the three guidelines to protect the heart after a heart attack, “to avoid further risks”explains to Adnkronos Salute Fabrizio Ammirati, director of the Complex Operating Unit of the Grassi hospital in Ostia (Rome), where a “post-infarction ‘commandments’ chart has been developed. These are suggestions that can really make a difference. This is why I like to call them commandments”, adds the cardiologist. “In the hospital – he says – we realized that patients who had had a heart attack in most cases did not do what they should have done to avoid a recurrence: they only partially remembered the advice. Hence the decision to put the indications on paper, written in a simple but very detailed way, with a title that emphasizes their importance and role of ‘rebirth’: “Post-Heart Attack Commandments. The Dawn of the Day After”.
We start from first goal, “change your lifestyle”suggests Ammirati. Therefore: absolutely abstain from smoking cigarettes (even electronic ones); gradually resume your daily activities; establish a regular physical exercise program (minimum 3-4 hours a week of moderate aerobic activity, at least 45 minutes of brisk walking at least 3 times a week); moderate sexual activity, avoiding excessive emotional stress; change your diet (adopting the Mediterranean style); in case of difficulty in managing your daily diet or in case of excessive weight, consider consulting a dietician; use of wearable devices (smartwatch, sportwatch, smart band), recommended to encourage your motivation to physical activity.
The second objective, explains the cardiologist, is “adherence to therapies and monitoring”. That is: take the prescribed therapies daily for the prescribed times; monitor blood pressure and heart rate at least 3 times a week (or in conditions of discomfort), before taking the tablets and record the values in a notebook for at least the first 20-30 days; maintain the systolic (maximum) blood pressure values ideally below 130 mmHg. If you have diabetes, monitor your blood sugar and undergo periodic diabetes check-ups; maintain glycated hemoglobin values below the recommended threshold; maintain LDL cholesterol values below 55 mg/dL; undergo control blood tests 20 days after discharge. Last objective, the expert lists, the checks that can also be done via televisitThe first one 30 days after discharge, at the end of which, further tests and visits will be scheduled.
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