Efficacy of Physical Exercise in Cardiac Rehabilitation

Physical rehabilitation is a key element in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular diseases, and recent evidence has shown that supervised exercise programmes can prevent cardiovascular events, improve physical function and quality of life. Individualized exercise prescription based on appropriate frequency, intensity and duration is recommended. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that physical cardiac exercise training can influence inflammation of the vessel wall and hence reduce development of arteriosclerosis in coronary vessels. In the literature are divergent conclusions on appropriate frequency and duration of physical rehabilitation programs in order to improve physical function and reduce arteriosclerosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of an optimized physical rehabilitation programme compared to a conventional programme on physical fitness, health related quality of life and vascular inflammation.