Abstract
Ischemic heart disease is the one of the common lifestyle-related diseases in Japan. Sports programs may improve QOL of patients, and help them achieve self-actualization. The purpose of this paper was to review the sports program available for patients with ischemic heart disease in Japan. Since 1981, collaborative investigations regarding group sports rehabilitation for patients with heart disease have been conducted in universities. They concluded that in addition to emotional and psychological support, their sports cardiac rehabilitation is safe and effective in improving exercise tolerance and cardiac perfusion. For patients in the chronic phase, programs in the suburbs are useful to enliven their lives and rehabilitation. A ski program trial in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease was conducted at a popular ski area (Shimomura et al., 1998). Walk skiing and slide skiing were programmed, and the trial was considered to have been completed safely by all patients. Even in cold environments in winter, sports programs seem to be effective for these patients. The safe and effective use of recreational sports should be examined further for these patients. It is necessary to promote sports and welfare information distribution by public authority.
