Controlling coronary heart disease

2-minute read

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

ARE YOU AT RISK? — Are you at risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease? Use our Risk Checker to find out.

If you have diabetes, you should generally aim to keep your diabetes controlled by diet and often with medications, 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.