The ABC’s of Heart Medication

The differences between ace inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and the functions of each.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States.  Heart Disease does give your body some warning, in fact, high blood pressure is also known as first stage heart disease. Once this diagnosis is given, you need to consider how to improve your heart and overall health. Your physician, or the nurse, will encourage you to change your diet and exercise but it is up to you to find and put into action everything necessary for your health. The top suggestions from the physician may include, stop smoking (if you smoke) stop drinking alcohol (if you drink) start walking consistently but slowly until you can walk at a brisk pace for up to forty-five minutes three to four times a week. Other suggestions may include stopping adding salt to food, stopping eating fried foods, baking or broiling meat and only eating red meat three to four times a month. The most important part is to take your medication as the physician ordered and see the physician regularly. Your physician may or may not have you seen by a cardiologist, depending upon the severity of the heart disease.

Sometimes physicians start slow and add one medication at a time for heart patients. This is usual if the person has only high blood pressure or if there are no other signs of heart disease. However, if the person has had heart disease a long time without improvement or if the person has had an episode of angina (chest pain) or a myocardial infarction (heart attack) the physician may order up to three different heart medications. Using an ace inhibitor, beta-blocker and a calcium channel blocker has been recommended by the American heart Association for over a decade. Sometimes the person cannot tolerate all three, their blood pressure and or their heart rate will drop dangerously.

Ace inhibitors

This heart medication is called an angiotensin-converting enzyme and goes by the acronym of ACE inhibitor. This drug stops (inhibits) the angiotensin-converting enzyme from entering the heart. Once in the heart this enzyme releases a hormone that causes the vessels of the heart to constrict. Once the ace inhibitor is in the system the vessels of the heart relax and open, which lowers the blood pressure and relaxes the heart muscle. An easy way to know which medications are ace inhibitors is to remember if the name of the drug ends in “pril” it is most likely an ace inhibitor. Some drugs I this class include Lisinopril, captopril, benazapril and ramipril.

Beta Blockers

This class of drugs also works by blocking a hormone (epinephrine) which lowers the blood pressure. Beta-blockers are also known as beta-adrenergic blocking agents.  Beta-blockers cause the heart rate to slow considerably and the rate of the heart beat also drops. This must be carefully monitored when the person is taking a beta-blocker for the first time. The easiest way to know if a drug is a beta-blocker is to look at the suffix. If the name of the drug ends in “lol” it is more than likely to be a beta-blocker. Some examples of a beta-blocker medication include Propranolol, Metoprolol, Atenolol and Acebutalol.

Calcium Channel Blockers

This heart drug does exactly what it says; it blocks calcium from entering the heart. This drug will relieve angina, lower blood pressure and heart rate, relaxes, and widens the walls of the cardiovascular vessels. Calcium channel blockers are made to be either short or long acting. The easy way to know if the heart drug is a calcium channel blocker is to look at the suffix. If the drug ends in “pine” it is likely a calcium channel blocker. A few examples of these drugs are Amlodipine, Nifedipine, Felodipine and Nicardipine.

In summary, persons with heart disease include even persons diagnosed with high blood pressure (Hypertension.) Persons with heart disease need to change their lifestyle altogether in order to live a fuller, better quality of life. Knowing how your heart medications affect your heart gives a well-rounded view and if there are untoward effects, you will be better informed when you see you physician. Remember to look at the suffix of the name of the medication for a clue as to which class of drug it belongs. If the drug ends in “lol” it is probably a beta-blocker, “pine” make it a calcium channel blocker and “pril’ means it is an ace inhibitor.
barbara bethard