Now this picture is changing. Medical researchers are learning more about why heart failure happens, and why it progresses so relentlessly. Last month, University of California, Los Angeles, cardiologists held a one-day symposium to discuss new insights into this malady, which contributes to 260,000 deaths in America every year. Here's a look at some of the new and future therapies they discussed. These newer drugs protect the heart by interfering with a hormone, angiotensin, that is made in greater amounts in people with heart failure.
Angiotensin narrows blood vessels, helping maintain blood pressure.
Not only that, but high levels of angiotensin can make heart cells bloat up, and weaken, even die. These drugs have been used to treat hypertension for decades. But until recently, doctors would have never considered them for heart failure patients. The body, in fact, tries to do just the opposite. As blood pressure drops, it cranks out hormones called adrenaline and noradrenaline to spur the heart to beat faster.