Right now, standard guidelines suggest patients start on an ACE inhibitor, then receive a beta-blocker later on.

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But a Swedish study involving over 1 000 patients found that the reverse order (starting patients with mild- to moderate heart failure on the beta blocker bisoprolol, then adding the ACE inhibitor, enalapril) was just as safe and effective.

The researchers note that many doctors already deviate from recommended guidelines, prescribing a beta blocker before they add in an ACE inhibitor. "The study supports a free choice based on the physician's individual judgment with each patient," lead researcher Ronnie Willenheimer of Malmo University Hospital, Sweden, said in a prepared statement. "Now physicians can feel confident that patients won't do worse if treatment is started with the beta blocker bisopronol."

The study, presented Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Stockholm, is also published online in the rapid access edition of Circulation. – (HealthDayNews)

Visit our Heart Centre for more information.

August 2005
 

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