Heart exercises to help curb disease

The Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa has launched a unit to help prevent cardiac disease as well as manage patients with heart conditions.

According to the chief physiotherapist at the hospital, Ms Fatma Said, cardiac rehabilitation exercises help prevent issues such as heart attacks.

The exercises also prevent future risks of attacks and help boost health and productivity, she said.

“If you are diabetic, hypersensitive or have high cholesterol and blood pressure, we take you through a cardiac exercise program to help prevent you from getting a cardiac disease”, Ms Said explained.

And if you already have a cardiac disease, this should not limit you, once you are stable, you come for exercises to improve your quality of life,” she said at the hospital during the launch of the first cardiac rehabilitation centre in Mombasa at the weekend.

Ms Said noted that before exercise sessions, cardiac specialists working with physiotherapists conduct tests on individuals to ascertain how much their heart rate can take.

Exercises chosen for the individual or patient, will thus be in line with their ability and overall health status.

“As you take the exercises we check your vitals, we monitor your blood pressure, your heart rate, oxygen saturation and breathing,” she added said and added that they also offer health and nutritional talks that prevent and cure the illnesses and improve one’s overall physical and mental health.

Initial assessments of a patient or an individual’s health status before the exercises begin go for Sh2,000, then Sh1,350 per session as one progresses.

Nishi Dhanidina, a speech language therapist, added that as the patient gets better with the sessions, their pain reduces, strength increases, oxygen intake improves, blood lipid levels go down, blood sugar stabilizes and their ability to do things they previously were unable to do as a result of their medical condition, improves.