Discharge Planning

Eat a heart healthy diet: Get enough calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals to help prevent poor nutrition and promote muscle strength. You may be told to eat foods low in cholesterol or sodium (salt). You also may be told to limit saturated and trans fats. Eat foods that contain healthy fats, such as walnuts, salmon, and canola and soybean oils. Eat foods that help protect the heart, including plenty of fruits and vegetables, nuts, and sources of fiber. Do not smoke: Smoking increases your risk of blood vessel disease and an MI. Smoking causes lung cancer and other long-term lung diseases. Return to daily activities as directed: Talk to your cardiologist (heart specialist) before you drive. Ask him when you can go back to work and when you can have sex. Ask when you can climb stairs, do house or yard work, and how much you can lift.. Exercise as directed: Exercise makes your heart stronger, lowers blood pressure, and helps prevent an MI. Begin with easy exercises, such as walking. Avoid intense exercise. The goal is 30 to 60 minutes a day, 5 to 7 days a week.

Manage your stress: Stress may slow healing and lead to illness. Learn ways to control stress, such as relaxation, deep breathing, and music. Talk to someone about things that upset you. Take your medicine as directed: Call your primary healthcare provider if you think your medicine is not working as expected. Tell him if you are allergic to any medicine. Keep a current list of the medicines, vitamins, and herbs you take. Include the amounts, and when, how, and why you take them. Take the list or the pill bottles to follow-up visits. Carry your medicine list with you in case of an emergency. Throw away old medicine lists.

Medications to be taken after discharge.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (Captopril): These medicines are called ACE inhibitors. They help relax your blood vessels so your heart can get the blood it needs. You may need angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) if you cannot take ACE inhibitors. Beta blockers(Metropolol): These medicines help you have a steady and regular heartbeat. Calcium channel blockers: These medicines help slow your heartbeat. They also help open up small blood vessels. This can relieve chest pain, control an abnormal heartbeat, and decrease blood pressure. Nitroglycerin: This medicine may also be called nitro.
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Nitroglycerin opens the arteries to your heart so the heart gets more oxygen. After taking nitroglycerin, your pain may get better or go away. Nitroglycerin may give you a headache or

make you dizzy. Make sure you are sitting or lying down when you take your nitroglycerin. Also, get up slowly after taking nitroglycerin.
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You may get your nitroglycerin as a pill. It also can be put on your body as a patch or paste. If you are taking nitroglycerin pills, put the nitroglycerin pill under your tongue. It slowly melts and moves into your blood. If you are using a nitroglycerin patch or paste, put the patch or paste on your chest, arm, or back. The medicine soaks through your skin and goes into your blood. Aspirin: You may need to take an aspirin a day to help prevent heart problems. Aspirin helps to prevent blood clots from forming and causing blood flow problems in the heart. If caregivers want you to take aspirin daily, do not take acetaminophen or ibuprofen instead. Do not take more or less aspirin than caregivers say to take. If you are on other blood thinner medicine, ask your caregiver before you take aspirin for any reason.

Aspirin

This is an anti-platelet drug. If the patient is hypersensitive, then consider clopidogrel. Some patients may be put on aspirin and clopidogrel in the acute phase after an MI; but they should not be on this combination for more than 12 months.

In patients with dyspepsia, you should also consider giving a PPI with aspirin to reduce the risk of ulceration. blocker this has antihypertensive effects, by encouraging peripheral vasodilation, and it also reduces cardiac output, by reducing the rate and contractility of the heart. It also reduces renin secretion. ACE inhibitor (or alternative anti-aldosterone drug)

Not only does this drug help to reduce blood pressure and reduce the risk of chronic renal failure, but it also helps toreduce/delay the onset of heart failure, by preventing remodelling of the left ventricle. Statin

This is useful even in patients with a normal cholesterol level! Some trusts treat all MI patients with a statin, others only treat those with total cholesterol >4mmol/L