If you are living with coronary heart disease, making healthy lifestyle choices and using modern treatments can greatly reduce your risk of further heart problems. While there is no cure for coronary heart disease, you can relieve or control the symptoms.

To reduce future risk and to aid your recovery if you have experienced heart problems:

• take your medicines as prescribed
• be smoke-free
• enjoy healthy eating
• be physically active
• control your blood pressure and cholesterol
• achieve and maintain a healthy body weight
• maintain your psychological and social health

If you have diabetes, you should generally aim to keep your blood glucose levels within the normal non-diabetic range and follow individual advice from your doctor or accredited diabetes educator.

Managing my heart health

'Managing my heart health' is an interactive resource for people with, or at high risk of, coronary heart disease. It aims to help you improve your heart health and reduce your risk of further heart problems. It includes:

• tools to help you achieve your important heart health goals
• vital information on heart health-related lifestyle, medical and psychological issues.

'Managing my heart health' also contains action plans, a medicines card and a handy record card ('Managing my heart health. At a glance') to help you and your health professional track your progress.

To order your free single copy, call the Heart Foundation's Health Information Service on 1300 36 27 87 or email heartline@heartfoundation.org.au, or visit the Heart Foundation website.

Cardiac rehabilitation

These programs help you to make practical, potentially life-saving changes to the way in which you live. They can help you and your family deal with physical, emotional, psychological, marital, sexual and work-related issues. The right rehabilitation program will help most people to reduce their risk of further heart problems.

Cardiac rehabilitation programs complement the advice that your doctor and/or cardiologist gives you. You can find out more about cardiac rehabilitation at the Heart Foundation website.