Cardiac rehabilitation.

Cardiac rehabilitation as a multifactorial intervention has been shown to improve functional capacity, emotional well-being, return to work rate and longevity. Cardiac rehabilitation is cost effective, and in many aspects represents causal therapy. The meta-analyses do not include studies where pharmacological lipid lowering was used. The use of generally accepted and recommended medical treatment strategies in the EuroAspire study has been below the expected rate, Therefore, cardiac rehabilitation programmes should educate the patient and emphasize the need to apply the appropriate medical regimen in addition to the non-pharmacological treatment modalities of cardiac rehabilitation to achieve maximal benefit. Cardiac rehabilitation has an important role in assuring the application of the available knowledge, to avoid cardiac complications and progression of disease, and improve cardiorespiratory fitness and survival. Cardiac rehabilitation should therefore be an integral part of cardiological management after a cardiac event.