Medicines for heart failure

With the diagnosis of "heart failure", the symptoms, treatment (which pills should be taken) should be known to everyone.

The danger of the syndrome is that if you do not react in time, do not provide the patient with medical care, he may die. Especially dangerous is fulminant-type heart failure, when the disease progresses so quickly that the ambulance team has no more than half an hour to save a life.

Heart failure symptoms

Heart failure occurs predominantly in older patients. The fact is that over time, our heart wears out, malfunctions occur in its work, and the contractile function is disturbed. Smoking, alcoholic beverages, taking medications, malnutrition, overweight adversely affect the state of the whole organism, including the cardiovascular system.

Heart failure develops against the background of other pathologies of the heart, blood vessels, and respiratory organs. Among the most common causes of its occurrence are myocardial infarction, arterial hypertension, myocarditis, heart disease and others.

Heart failure syndrome can occur in acute or chronic form.

The characteristics are the same:

• decrease in working capacity;
• constant fatigue;
• failure of the heart rhythm;
• shortness of breath during physical exertion or at rest;
• bloating;
• dry cough;
• foamy discharge from the trachea;
• pulmonary edema.

With heart failure, the contractile function of the heart is disrupted, as a result, the supply of oxygen to the internal organs worsens. Blood is poorly pumped, this negatively affects the condition of the vessels. The pathological process affects the work of the liver (it increases in size), respiratory organs (suffocation, shortness of breath, cough), kidneys (edema).

In case of acute insufficiency, it is necessary to act immediately. In the chronic form of the disease, therapy is prescribed, which is aimed at normalizing the functioning of the heart muscle and minimizing negative consequences.

Treatment of pathology

The goal of treating heart failure is to improve the patient's quality of life and increase its duration. To improve performance, reduce the manifestation of symptoms and improve the prognosis, it is necessary to treat the pathologies that caused the development of the syndrome.

Modern drugs help to remove symptoms, stop the progression of the disease, contribute to the reverse development of the pathological process and restore the work of the heart muscle.

Treatment of heart failure is aimed at achieving the following goals:

• myocardial revascularization;
• elimination of defects;
• antianginal therapy for ischemic heart disease;
• normalization of thyroid function;
• stabilization of blood pressure.

Therapy depends on the form and stage of development of the disease.

In case of acute insufficiency, it is necessary to act immediately. In the chronic form, an effective treatment regimen is prescribed to achieve a stable result (elimination of symptoms and prevention of complications).

Medical therapy for heart failure

Drug therapy for heart failure is quite effective. The drugs that doctors prescribe most often act not only on the symptoms, but also on the cause of the development of the syndrome, which improves the patient's health and minimizes the risk of complications.

With this pathology, it is necessary to take drugs from different pharmacokinetic groups, namely:

• ACE inhibitors;
• cardiac glycosides;
• diuretics (diuretics);
• beta-blockers;
• sympathomimetic agents.

The patient must be aware of the seriousness of the disease, strictly follow the appointment of a specialist, control his condition. This is the only way to achieve good results, to make the treatment of heart failure effective.

ACE inhibitors

Drugs from this pharmacokinetic group contribute to the expansion of peripheral vessels, weakening the activity of the sympathoadrenal system. As a result, metabolic processes improve, the tone of the heart muscle is restored.

Can be distinguished:

• Trandolapril. A drug that is prescribed for the prevention and treatment of heart failure in patients who have had a myocardial infarction. Effective in hypertension.
• Captopril. It is prescribed for the treatment of chronic heart failure. The drug is available in the form of tablets, is one of the most popular.

Before starting the course, a specialist consultation is required. Medicines from this group have a number of contraindications, can cause the development of various side effects.

cardiac glycosides

Means of natural or synthetic origin, the action of which is aimed at improving the functions of the heart.

This:

• Methyldigoxin. The drug is prescribed for the chronic course of the disease, helps to cope with heart overload, helps to normalize blood pressure.
• Digitoxin. A remedy of natural origin, which is made on the basis of foxglove herb. Tablets are prescribed for hypertension, atrial fibrillation, chronic heart failure. Digitoxin has a mild diuretic, vasodilating effect. As a result of taking this remedy, symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough and swelling are eliminated. You can not take the drug with unstable angina, heart rhythm disturbances, after myocardial infarction. The active components of the tablets can cause the development of side effects. With an overdose, patients experience a heart rhythm failure, with prolonged use - gynecomastia. There may also be reactions from the nervous and digestive systems.

Diuretics

For the treatment of heart failure, diuretics are used, but only those that simulate the formation of urine by lowering sodium reabsorption. They are taken in combination with other drugs.

Spironolactone is the most popular diuretic.

Active substances stimulate:

• removal of excess fluid, chlorine and sodium from the body;
• decrease in urine acidity.

As a result of the use of this remedy, blood pressure decreases, so it is often prescribed in the treatment of hypertension.

You can not take these pills together with taking drugs from the group of ACE inhibitors and potassium preparations, there is a high risk of developing hyperkalemia.

The drug helps relieve symptoms of heart failure, but may cause side effects. A person is disturbed by a headache, working capacity decreases, vomiting and nausea occur. In addition, often in male patients there are problems with potency, and in women the hormonal background goes astray. There are a number of contraindications to the use of this drug, which the doctor must inform about before prescribing the medicine.

Beta blockers

In the treatment of heart failure, in most cases, drugs from the category of beta-blockers are prescribed. They can not only relieve the symptoms of the disease, but also improve the patient's condition for a long time. Long-acting drugs are considered the most convenient to use. The effect of their reception lasts for 24 hours.

The most popular and prescribed remedy is the drug Bisoprolol.

The advantages of this drug include the following:

• reception 1 time per day;
• you can drink after eating (and not on an empty stomach, like other drugs with a similar principle of action);
• minimal list of side effects;
• does not affect potency in men;
• does not disrupt metabolism;
• can be taken by elderly patients;
• is inexpensive;
• completely removed from the body.

Very rarely, but still after taking Bisoprolol, adverse reactions from the nervous, digestive, cardiovascular systems may occur. When prescribing this drug for the treatment of heart failure, the doctor must carefully select other drugs. Medicines such as Reserpine, Verapamil, Methyldopa and others should not be taken together with Bisoprolol. Otherwise, there is a risk of worsening the symptoms of the disease, the occurrence of tachycardia or bradycardia, the likelihood of cardiac arrest and death of the patient is high.

Another popular drug from the category of beta-blockers is Metoprolol.

Its action is directed:

• to eliminate symptoms;
• to stabilize blood pressure;
• to restore the function of the heart muscle.

Medicines for heart failure should be taken strictly as prescribed by the attending physician. This is a disease that can be fatal.

If primary symptoms of pathology are detected, you should immediately contact a medical institution. Only after carrying out the necessary diagnostic methods, it is possible to prescribe the most effective and safe drugs in each specific case.