UPMC Institute for Health: cardiac rehabilitation

Today, UPMC Institute for Health Chianciano Terme will launch a cardiac rehabilitation service at the Medical and Wellness Center in Chianciano Terme, dedicated to both NHS and private patients. The Medical and Wellness Center aims to be a point of reference for promoting physical activity as an antidote and therapy against cardiovascular diseases.

According to recent U.S. research, four out of five heart attacks could be avoided by adopting a healthy lifestyle: abstinence from smoking, balanced diet, moderate alcohol consumption, optimal body weight, and weekly soft physical exercise are all factors that positively impact cardiovascular risk, and decrease the risk of heart attack by as much as 79%.

“Today, in our country, cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of mortality, and tragically affect people’s quality of life,” said Flavio D’Ascenzi, Head of Cardiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation at UPMC Institute for Health in Chianciano Terme. “Despite the improvements in quality of health care and developments in new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, heart, liver, and metabolic diseases, in general, still have severe outcomes in health. Therefore, preventive measures aimed at supporting and changing for the better health and quality of life are key. These include diagnostic check-ups and the adoption of healthy lifestyles, with a special emphasis on a balanced diet and regular physical activity.”

The Medical and Wellness Center of the UPMC Institute for Health of Chianciano Terme, near Siena, offers preventive screenings and customized exercise prescriptions for healthy individuals wishing to engage in physical activity as prevention therapy, as well as for patients suffering from diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension, or with a family history of dyslipidemia, systemic atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic liver or cardiac diseases, who want to change their health through exercise. Furthermore, the Center has rehabilitation programs, both private and covered by the NHS, for patients who have suffered from heart attack, or undergone cardiac surgery or stenting procedures for coronary artery or vascular disease. To further assist patients, the plan foresees psychological and nutritional counselling.

“Rehabilitation aims at giving patients their everyday life back, and the routines they had before surgery by educating them about lifestyle,” adds Giovanni Vizzini, UPMC Italy‘s Chief Operating Officer. “Cardiac rehabilitation, screening, and prevention programs are an integral part of care management of patients already suffering from cardiovascular diseases, and have useful and effective benefits when treating cardiovascular diseases.”

As a result of specific cardiology and functional tests, patients will avail themselves of a personalized exercise plan based on their conditions and needs, and of health care professionals and specialized support of experts so as to complete, and eventually modify, the plan when exercising at the gym.

The Medical Exercise and Wellness Center is the result of a collaboration between UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), Terme di Chianciano, University of Siena, and Technogym a leading company in the field of fitness.