In this article, consider cardiac medications.
Pathologies of the heart and blood vessels lead among all diseases of the new century. This is the leading cause of death in many countries and states, and in this regard, the attitude to such diseases should be appropriate. Timely treatment is a necessary condition for solving this problem, and drugs play a very important role in therapy .
But for their correct application, it is necessary to establish the causes of the pathology. The most common and contributing factors to the occurrence of such diseases are congenital diseases of internal organs along with atherosclerosis, bacterial or viral infections, functional lesions provoked by depression, and, in addition, excessive consumption of coffee and alcohol. Next, we describe in detail the heart preparations that are widely used in medicine today.
Description
Medicines that are available for the treatment of heart and vascular diseases are divided into different groups depending on the specifics of their effects. Let's consider them in more detail.
Drugs that regulate cerebral circulation
The drugs that allow you to regulate the blood circulation of the brain include drugs that dilate blood vessels. As part of this, vascular tone is monitored for optimal blood supply to the brain. Under the influence of the medicine, not only is the brain tissue saturated with oxygen, but also the blood supply to the area of ischemia is improved. Of this group, Picamilon, along with Cinnarizine, Eufilin, acetylsalicylic and aminocaproic acid, as well as Heparin, are the most famous heart preparations.
Medicines that improve myocardial circulation
This group of drugs can reduce myocardial oxygen demand. Thanks to such drugs, its blood supply improves. This is primarily "Nitroglycerin" and any of its derivatives.
There are also drugs for the heart muscle.
Medicines for myocardial infarction
There is a group of cardiac drugs that are used for myocardial infarction. They have a symptomatic, and, in addition, pathogenetic effect, eliminating pain and improving the well-being of the patient. This group includes “Promedol” along with “Tramadol” and “Analgin”. These medications should be combined with antihistamines, as well as antipsychotics.
What other heart medications are there?
Medications for the treatment of angina pectoris
If the patient has angina, antianginal drugs are used. Such medications should be kept in mind for those patients who suffer from coronary heart disease. These drugs are divided into several groups.
- Drugs that intensify the blood supply to the myocardium with oxygen. These include Verapamil along with Amiodarone and Nitroglycerin.
- Drugs in the form of Validol, No-shpa and Tiklopidina increase the supply of oxygen to the myocardium.
- Anaprilin significantly reduces the overall oxygen demand of the myocardium.
- Myocardial resistance to ischemia is promoted by preparations in the form of “Nerobol”, “Lipin”, “Riboxin”, “Trimetazidine” and “Riboflavin”.
- It should also be noted drugs that improve the delivery processes of oxygen to the myocardium. These are primarily inhibitors in the form of “Persantine” and “Eufillin”, as well as a number of other drugs. The names of the preparations of cardiac glycosides will be given below.
Means can also be used to increase myocardial resistance to hypoxia. In this case, we will talk about anabolic drugs, and, in addition, about antioxidants. You should be aware that with such diseases other drugs can also be used that, in fact, are not medicines for the heart, but positively affect the dynamics of such diseases. They are prescribed by doctors taking into account the level of damage and the general condition of the heart.
Antisclerotic and hypolipidemic medicines
Currently, antisclerotic and lipid-lowering heart drugs are very common. They do not directly affect the heart, but they lower cholesterol with triglycerides, which in the presence of an increased concentration can have an extremely negative effect on the state of the vessels. These drugs are famous for a good combination with angioprotectors. They can improve microcirculation by normalizing the permeability of the vascular walls and reducing swelling.
With heart failure, drugs can be very effective, especially if you use them simultaneously with calcium channel blockers. The fact is that calcium ions are able to accelerate cellular metabolism. But self-treating heart disease is very dangerous. In this case, you can not do without a doctor. Moreover, any drugs, as well as their doses, are prescribed exclusively individually. Therefore, in any case, consultation and knowledge of the doctor is required.
List of heart drugs
Among the most popular heart medicines that are currently being produced, Anaprilin should be noted along with Amlodipine, Bisoprolol, Valocordin, Validol, Valoserdin, Atoris, Veroshpiron, Verapamil , “Hood”, “Cardiomagnyl”, “Captopril”, “Corvalol” and so on.
What drugs to strengthen the heart muscle exist?
No less popular in the treatment of heart disease are medicines in the form of Concor, Curantil, Metoprolol, Nitroglycerin, Nifedipine, Panangin, Riboxin and Egilok.
Consider drugs - cardiac glycosides.
Glycosides
Glycosides is a group of medicinal substances of plant or synthetic origin. This is a special group of cardiac drugs. Their action is aimed at improving the work of the heart. Mostly they are used to treat severe heart failure caused by a decrease in myocardial contractile function. Such a disease is often manifested by symptoms of stagnation in the lungs in the form of shortness of breath and wheezing. Also, in people with heart failure, edema on the legs is not excluded, along with an enlarged liver, fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity or chest.
It is very important to separate cardiac glycosides in duration and rate of onset of cardiotonic effects. Next, we consider them in terms of these criteria.
Fast glycosides
What heart medications to choose, the doctor will tell.
As for fast-acting glycosides, in this case we are talking about drugs such as Strofantin and Korglikon. The effect of these drugs begins ten minutes after intravenous administration. The maximum effect is expressed after a couple of hours. The full action is completed after twelve hours. This is because these drugs do not accumulate in the tissue because they are water soluble. They quickly enter the myocardium and are very easily excreted by the body with urine. Let's consider them in more detail:
- The drug "Korglikon" is a fast-acting cardiac glycoside that has a mild cardiotonic effect. This medicine is weaker than other drugs in this category, but it is effective enough to treat mild cardiac dysfunction. Release "Korglikon" only in the form of a solution intended for intravenous administration. This drug rarely causes adverse reactions or overdose.
- The medicine "Strofantin." This is an ideal medicine for emergency care in the presence of diseases that are accompanied by decompensation or acute chronic heart failure. Like Korglikon, this drug is released only in the form of a solution for intravenous administration, but it has a stronger and, at the same time, lasting effect. The drug is well tolerated by patients, but in case of rapid administration or prolonged use, certain side effects are likely.
Prolonged Glycosides
Such medicines act very slowly, but quite long. As a rule, the onset occurs after two hours or a maximum of four. The total duration is one day. Such features are primarily associated with the fact that the active components of such drugs penetrate the myocardium very slowly and bind to blood proteins for a long time, in addition, they circulate for a long time and, as a result, are neutralized by the liver. Glycosides of prolonged exposure include Digoxin and Celanide. The list of cardiac glycoside preparations is very extensive.
In addition to the above, there are drugs that have a much longer duration of exposure - up to three days, for example, “Digitoxin” or “Methyldigitoxin”. The plant base of these drugs is similar to Digoxin. But at the moment they are discontinued due to the large number of cases of overdose and intoxication.
- The drug "Digoxin". This drug is most suitable for the treatment of severe heart failure among fat-soluble glycosides. Its good solubility allows it to be released in the form of tablets and in injectable dosage forms. For relief of an acute condition, injections are indicated. They are best administered by the intravenous route, drip or slowly, in a stream. The chronic form of circulatory failure is treated with pills. With proper use of "Digoxin" you can achieve a tangible effect without negative consequences. Incorrect use leads to overdose and intoxication.
- "Celanide" in comparison with "Digoxin" has a not so pronounced potentiating effect. This drug acts gently and gradually. It is best used with a moderate manifestation of heart failure. Toxic effects with an overdose occur in this case much less often. The medicine is released only in the form of tablets.
Indications for the use of glycosides
Cardiac glycosides help in the treatment of diseases that are accompanied by a decrease in myocardial contractility. It is also advisable to use them for congestive heart failure. In addition, this group of drugs is used in the following cases:
- In the presence of a chronic form of circulatory failure of the third degree, which manifests itself in the form of pronounced edema of the legs or the whole body, shortness of breath at rest or against the background of minimal exertion, moist rales in the lungs, which are congestive, as well as with the accumulation of fluid in the chest or abdomen.
- In the presence of heart failure, not treatable by any other drugs.
- Acute critical decompensation of heart failure.
- The presence of supraventricular arrhythmias in the form of atrial fibrillation, paroxysmal tachycardia or extrasystole with or without heart failure.
Contraindications to the use of glycosides
Even if a person has indications for treatment with glycosides, there may be reasons for having to abandon the use of these medicines, for example:
- The presence of blockade of the atrioventricular node of the third degree.
- The appearance of allergic reactions to the drug.
- Signs of glycoside intoxication or suspicion of it.
- Slowing of the heartbeat of less than fifty beats per minute, as occurs with or without atrial fibrillation.
- With myocardial infarction.
- The presence of hypokalemia and hypercalcemia, that is, conditions in which potassium is lowered in the blood or calcium is increased.
- The development of severe renal failure.
When are glycosides ineffective?
Apart from contraindications, there are cases of heart failure in which glycosides are not contraindicated at all, but are inappropriate for use, since they do not solve the current problem:
- With mitral stenosis.
- Against the background of restrictive cardiomyopathy.
- In the presence of chronic pericarditis.
- In case of aortic valve insufficiency.
Glycoside Treatment Rules
For fast-acting glycosides, such as Korglikon or Strofantin, no treatment regimen is prescribed, because these drugs are very quickly eliminated from the human body. “Digoxin”, in contrast to them, has a cumulative property and, with prolonged use, accumulates in excessive quantities, which can cause an overdose. In order to prevent this from happening, the following treatment principles are required:
- Saturation of the body with glycosides. During this period, the dose of the drug increases gradually until there are obvious signs of an improvement in the patient's condition. It is imperative to ensure that it does not exceed the maximum and that overdose symptoms do not occur.
- The period of maintenance treatment. By reducing the manifestations of heart failure, the dose of the drug is gradually reduced to the level at which it can support all the therapeutic effects achieved. As soon as it is installed, the patient should systematically take the drug in this dosage.
A cardiologist is involved in the selection of treatment regimens, and, in addition, the type of medicine and its dosage, but the therapist or family doctor will also help. Self-medication with cardiovascular drugs is unacceptable.
Drugs for elderly patients
For elderly patients, vitamins are not so much needed as tablets. Vitamins C, A, E, B1 and B6 are required for good heart function. The state of the heart and blood vessels is also improved by trace elements in the form of magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, chromium and selenium. Cardiac drugs for elderly patients are bought in pharmacies very often.
As for medicines, for elderly patients, doctors often prescribe Venoton for the heart along with Ascorutin, Riboxin, Cavinton, Atoris and Hawthorn forte, and Asparkam.
There are also cardiovascular drugs for young people.
Drugs for young patients
Young people who have certain heart problems can be prescribed a variety of drugs. In many ways, these are the same means that doctors prescribe for people of different ages. For example, Cardio Forte, Cardiohels, Doppelherz, Vitrum Cardio and others may be appointed. These names of heart drugs are by ear. In fact, the choice of heart medications is huge today. And to choose the most suitable of them by age and individual health indicators can only a qualified specialist.
But at any age with problems with the heart, people should focus primarily on the intake of vitamins and essential microelements. It is best to draw them from fresh and quality food. In addition, a healthy lifestyle should not be neglected and alcohol and other bad habits should be completely abandoned.
Unfortunately, pathologies of the heart and blood vessels today occupy a leading position in terms of their prevalence. There are many different reasons for this. In this regard, the pharmaceutical market is currently producing many heart preparations that meet the highest requirements for effective treatment.