Heart Attack Recovery

Heart Attack Info

Lifestyle Changes as Part of Heart Attack Recovery

Everyone who has had a heart attack needs to make some lifestyle changes as part of the recovery process. These changes involve minimizing the risk factors for another heart attack. Some of these lifestyle changes can include:

Eating a heart-healthy diet to prevent or lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol (see Diet and Heart Disease, DASH Diet, or Low Cholesterol Diet).
If you smoke, quitting smoking (see Smoking and Heart Disease).
Exercising as directed by your doctor. Exercise is good for your heart muscle and overall health. It can help you lose weight, keep your cholesterol and blood pressure under control, reduce stress, and lift your mood. If you have angina after your heart attack, you will need to learn when to rest and when and how to take medicine for angina (see Heart Disease and Exercise).
Losing weight if you are overweight or obese (see Weight and Heart Disease or click BMI Calculator to find your ideal weight).
Reducing stress (see Stress and Heart Disease).

Adopting new habits, such as not smoking, following a heart-healthy eating plan, maintaining a healthy weight, and becoming more physically active, can go a long way in helping to reduce your risk of complications from heart disease. You may need to manage certain risk factors persistently. For example, having a heart attack means that if you have high levels of a type of cholesterol called low density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad cholesterol," your goal should be to bring the level to below 100 mg/dL. Go over your heart disease risk factors with your healthcare provider and discuss how to reduce or eliminate each one.

(Click Preventing Heart Attacks for more information.)

(Heart Attack Recovery Continued: Page 3)
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