Congestive Heart Failure – Treatments

Transcript

There are many different treatments for heart failure. Once the diagnosis is made, typically medications will need to be started at the time of diagnosis. These can be talked about with your doctor. There are three very well known medications that in all studies have been shown to decrease mortality in heart failure. These medications include beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and Spironolactone. The doctor will usually start with a few of these medications and see how you can tolerate and may adjust accordingly and add medications accordingly. Another newer medication that’s been shown to have a large benefit in heart failure is Entresto. This is a different kind of medication with dual components in it. Your doctor can also talk to you about adding this medication as well. Now, besides medications, it’s very important to know that you need to modify all of your risk factors as well. For high blood pressure, your doctor may start you on antihypertensives or blood pressure control medications. They may start you on cholesterol lowering medications, which most commonly are statins, and they may start you on other medications to control your symptoms such as water pills, most commonly known as Lasix.