Cardiovascular Disease, and Cardiac Rehabilitation

I have always thought that patients with cardiac disease are somewhat depressed or anxious about
their lives. Thus, I thought it worthwhile to express my views on the value of “Cardiac Rehabilitation” on patients who are depressed or anxious. I like the definition of Depression proposed by Medicine Net.
They define Depression as “An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the
way a person eats, sleeps, feels about himself or herself, and thinks about things”.
As a clinical cardiologist taking care of patients with acute and chronic cardiovascular disease, I get
the impression that all or at least, most of my patients with myocardial ischemia, i.e. stable ischemic heart
disease, unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, or heart failure of any etiology have some form
of a psychiatric condition, e.g. depression or anxiety that relates to a concern about their ability to
function in society as they did in the past.

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