April 26, 2018 – Heart Failure Drugs

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Anchor lead:  A new combination of drugs for heart failure helps, but there are barriers to its use, Elizabeth Tracey reports

A drug marketed under the name Entresto seems to help people with one type of heart failure preserve kidney function better compared with another agent. Seth Martin, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, says since heart failure is so common and increasing dramatically, such findings are important, but significant barriers to their implementation exist.

Martin: Heart failure is affecting millions of people throughout this country, it’s a huge public health crisis and we’re really seeing a revolution in therapies. A big, big issue moving forward is just how do we implement what we know works in heart failure. This medication is on the cutting edge of cardiology we have this great new evidence how do we get it implemented in clinical practice. It’s partly clinicians learning the evidence but also the cost issues and getting access for this whether it can be afforded by the patients.  :31

Martin says patients and providers must work together to overcome barriers to the use of newer therapies in those who need them. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.