UK Celebrates American Heart Month

February is American Heart Month. It also marks one year of operation for the University of Kentucky Gill Heart Institute Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Battling to change health habits among Kentuckians – a population with some of the highest heart disease rates in the world – the program is helping high-risk patients make radical, lasting changes to improve their heart health.   “People have a notion of heart disease as something they’re born with, but for most people that isn’t true. Genetics play a role, but lifestyle accounts for the majority of heart disease risk,” says Dr. Alison Bailey, Gill Heart Institute cardiologist and director of the cardiac rehab program.   In the past year, dozens of patients have undergone total lifestyle makeovers with the help of heart health professionals. Many patients enter rehabilitation after a dramatic event, such as a heart attack. Others self-refer to the program, knowing they are at risk and hoping to avoid a cardiac emergency. Because of its association with the Gill Heart Institute and UK Chandler Hospital, the Gill rehab program sees a variety of patients – from young transplant recipients to middle-aged people with more typical heart disease risk factors.

The results of cardiac rehabilitation are real. Studies of Medicare patients have shown that participation in a heart health rehabilitation program reduces patient mortality by about 10 percent over a five-year period compared to patients who do not enter such programs.

For more about the success of the UK's Gill Heart Institute and how the cardiac rehab program is impacting the Commonwealth, click here.