Cardiovascular Disease

What is cardiovascular disease?

Cardiovascular disease involves a wide range of diseases such as heart, stroke and vascular conditions. Cardiovascular disease causes more deaths in Australia than any other disease (approximately 30% of all deaths). Cardiovascular disease kills one Australian every 12 minutes.

How can exercise help?  

• Improvements in cardiovascular and respiratory function (increased maximal oxygen uptake) 
• Improvements in quality of life and psychological benefits 
• Decrease in recurrent event and hospitalisations 
• Reduced morbidity, mortality and other chronic diseases (i.e. type 2 diabetes) 

How can Activate Health help you? 

Here at Activate Health we are passionate about providing clients with patient centered care interventions and outcomes. Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP’s) are well educated and trained to provide evidence-based exercise interventions to individuals at high risk of developing, or with existing cardiac conditions. Tailored exercise interventions can help improve cardiorespiratory fitness and reduce cardiovascular disease mortality.  

Recommendations for people suffering with cardiac diseases are to exercise 3-5 times per week for at least 30 minutes. It is important to incorporate various types of exercise such as aerobic, resistance and mobility, exercise needs to be incorporated slowly and progressed gradually. It is highly recommended to complete a comprehensive assessment by an AEP before commencing exercise to ensure safe procedures are followed.

Respiratory Disease

Respiratory disease includes a wide range of conditions such as COPD, lung cancer, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis etc. Many people tend to avoid physical activity when they feel short of breath however avoiding exercise is only going to reduce your lung function further.

How can Exercise help?
Research shows that exercise can improve symptoms of breathlessness and associated fatigue through strengthening accessory breathing muscles, enhancing your bodies ability to utilize the oxygen available to it and increase capillary density around organs and muscle. We can also reduce the risk of symptom exacerbation and development of comorbidities.

How can we help?

Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEP’s) assess, prescribe and deliver safe and effective exercise interventions. These are individually tailored to you to improve your symptoms and reduce risk of disease and development of comorbidities.

Guidelines advise to exercise 30 mins on most or all days of the week. It is best for this to be a mix of aerobic (walking, cycling etc), strength, mobility. It is recommended to have an initial assessment to determine your current exercise capacity and individual concerns and outline your goals to work towards.