Like aspirin, beta-blockers, and thrombolytics, ACE inhibitors are life savers after a heart attack. They should be used during the first 36 hours and continued for four to six weeks after the attack. They are particularly effective for patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, and congestive heart failure. ACE inhibitors are not without risks, however, and can cause dangerously low blood pressure in some people, even at low doses. Recent reports, however, are indicating that it might save the lives of as many as 75,000 American heart attack victims.
More research is warranted.
L-carnitine is a natural substance that may help restore heart muscles damaged after an attack. In a small trial, patients were injected with this substance within 12 hours of a heart attack, and after a year the patients who received L-carnitine showed less enlargement than those who didn't. More study is needed. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and coronary artery bypass graft surgery, known as revascularization procedures, are the standard operations for opening narrowed or blocked arteries. Emergency angioplasty is the more common procedure for heart attack patients.