How to use drugs correctly to treat heart failure?

Heart failure is a group of clinical syndromes caused by abnormal heart structure or function, which leads to impaired ventricular filling and/or ejection ability. The main manifestations are dyspnea, fatigue and fluid retention (edema), which is harmful. It is very important to use drugs in time and correctly to treat heart failure.

At present, traditional drug therapy has been listed as the standard treatment of heart failure, but the treatment of heart failure not only improves symptoms, but also prevents and delays the development of ventricular remodeling.

The drugs recommended by heart failure guidelines in China include diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), angiotensin Ⅱ receptor blockers (ARB), angiotensin receptor-enkephalinase inhibitors (ARNI), beta blockers and aldosterone receptor antagonists.

Diuretics can quickly improve the symptoms and signs of patients with heart failure, and generally need to be combined with other drugs; Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) can weaken cardiac remodeling and improve cardiac function in patients with heart failure. Angiotensin Ⅱ receptor blocker (ARB) can replace angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) in some cases, such as when ACEI has great side effects; Angiotensin receptor-enkephalinase inhibitors (ARNI) is a new drug with good curative effect, which can improve and delay ventricular remodeling, delay the progress of heart failure, reduce the long-term mortality of heart failure and improve the prognosis. It can be used for patients with heart failure with grade II ~ III cardiac function and decreased symptomatic ejection fraction, so as to reduce the incidence and mortality of heart failure. Beta blockers play an important role in blocking the vicious circle of cardiovascular diseases by effectively antagonizing sympathetic nervous system, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and over-activated neurohumoral factors, thus delaying or reversing myocardial remodeling. Aldosterone receptor antagonists can be used in combination with other drugs. Generally, on the basis of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)/ angiotensin Ⅱ receptor blocker (ARB)/ angiotensin receptor-enkephalinase inhibitors (ARNI) and β receptor blocker, it can enhance the therapeutic effect of heart failure drugs and reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, sudden death and hospitalization for heart failure.