[Place and role of cardiac rehabilitation in modern cardiology]. / Mjesto i uloga kardioloske rehabilitacije u suvremenoj kardiologiji.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in middle-aged and older adults in most developing countries in the world. Numerous strong evidences in professional and scientific literature showed that regular aerobic exercise training and cardiac rehabilitation programmes lead to significant reduction in the risk profile and mortality of cardiac patients. However, less than 1/3 of patients eligible for cardiac rehabilitation currently participate in formal rehabilitation programmes in most European countries. In this review, we present today's "evidence-based" knowledge about many positive effects of cardiac rehabilitation with purpose to promote its greater use in daily clinical work.