posted 01/09/03
More people are surviving
heart attacks but, more and more people are also developing heart failure.
Unlike heart attacks, heart failure is not a
sudden event. Instead, it is the slow, steady weakening of the heart muscle
until it no longer pumps blood effectively and allows fluid to seep into the
lungs. Heart failure typically develops after the heart is damaged by a heart
attack, high blood pressure, diabetes or other factors. Ironically, because more
people are surviving heart attacks than ever before, more and more people are
also developing heart failure.
Heart failure is now the fastest growing type of
heart disease in the world-with 1,500 new cases diagnosed in the U.S. each day.
Heart failure is also the leading reason people age 65 and older are
hospitalized. The good news is that heart failure can be treated. ACE inhibitors
are recognized as the standard of care. However, between 20 and 50 percent of
heart failure patients are unable to take ACE inhibitors due to side effects,
such as hacking cough, and other reasons.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
recently approved Diovan® (valsartan) for the treatment of heart failure
patients who are intolerant of ACE inhibitors. Already used by millions of
people for high blood pressure, Diovan is the first major new type of treatment
the FDA has approved for heart failure in five years. Data from a major study
showed that Diovan improved survival rates among heart failure patients who did
not take ACE inhibitors-and cut their risk of being hospitalized for this
disease by more than half.
Diovan is a type of drug known as an angiotensin
II receptor blocker (ARB). In patients with heart failure, concomitant use of
Diovan, an ACE inhibitor and a beta blocker is not recommended. In the Valsartan
Heart Failure Trial, this triple combination was associated with an unfavorable
heart failure outcome. All ARBs and ACE inhibitors carry a warning that these
drugs should not be used in pregnant women due to the risk of injury and even
death to the fetus. Because of the risk of hypotension, caution should be
observed when initiating therapy in heart failure patients
Source: Diabetes In Control Dot Com.
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