Did you know, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally? An estimated 17.9 million died from CVDs in 2019, showing 32% of all global deaths. 85% of all these deaths happen due to heart attacks and strokes. Most of them are easily manageable if treated early. For treatment, different medications and lifestyle changes are recommended. Learn about cardiovascular diseases and their medications for treatment in this article. Get a consultation with the best cardiologists in Brooklyn.

What are cardiovascular diseases?

Cardiovascular diseases are a group of disorders and conditions that affect your heart and blood vessels. These diseases can affect one or many parts of your heart and blood vessels. A person may experience symptoms or no symptoms at all.

Here are some of the cardiovascular diseases that commonly affect many people, which includes:

• Coronary heart disease: This condition affects blood vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle.
• Cerebrovascular disease: This condition affects blood vessels that supply blood to the brain.
• Peripheral arterial disease: This condition affects blood vessels that supply blood to arms and legs.
• Rheumatic heart disease: This condition damages the heart muscle and heart valves due to rheumatic fever which is caused by streptococcal bacteria.
• Congenital heart disease: This problem occurs from birth and affects the normal development and functioning of the heart caused by malformations of the heart structure from birth.
• Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: This problem occurs due to blood clots in the leg veins, which can dislodge and move to the heart and lungs.

Besides these conditions, heart attacks and strokes also occur due to blockage that prevents blood from flowing to the heart or brain. The most common reason is the build-up of fatty deposits called plaque onto the inner walls of the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart and brain. Strokes are caused by bleeding from a blood vessel in the brain or from blood clots.

Most of the conditions are treatable, however, early intervention is needed to prevent severe complications.

Cardiovascular medicines

To treat cardiovascular diseases, many different medicines can be used depending on the cause of your cardiovascular disease. Here are some of the common cardiovascular medicines:

• Anticoagulants: These medicines are used to decrease the clotting ability of the blood. It is also known as blood thinners; however, it doesn’t thin your blood, nor does it dissolve existing blood clots. That’s why it is only used to treat certain blood vessels, heart, and lung conditions. Mostly prescribed to prevent first or recurrent stroke or heart attack.
• Antiplatelet agents and dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT): These medicines are also used to prevent blood clots from forming by stopping blood platelets from sticking together. The doctor prescribes this medicine to people who have a heart attack, unstable angina, ischemic strokes, TIA (transient ischemic attacks), and other forms of cardiovascular disease.
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors: These medications are used for lowering blood pressure by widening blood vessels, which reduces the workload of the heart. The doctor prescribes this medicine to treat or improve symptoms of cardiovascular conditions including high blood pressure and heart failure. It’s also beneficial for people who have a heart attack.
• Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs): These medicines are used to prevent angiotensin II from affecting your heart and blood vessels. This keeps your blood pressure under control. It is recommended to treat or improve symptoms of cardiovascular conditions including high blood pressure or heart failure.
• Angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs): These medicines are a combination of a neprilysin inhibitor and an ARB, which is used to improve artery opening and blood flow, reduce sodium retention, and decrease strain on the heart. Doctors prescribe this medicine to treat heart failure.
• Beta-blockers: These medicines are used to lower the heart rate and the force of heart contraction, which means lower blood pressure and makes your heartbeat slow (and with less force). Doctors prescribe these medicines to treat some types of heart attacks, high blood pressure, chest pain caused by the reduced blood supply to the heart muscle, and some forms of arrhythmias. It’s also recommended for people who want to prevent future heart attacks.
• Combined alpha and beta-blockers: These medicines are used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. However, it may drop your blood pressure when you stand up.
• Calcium channel blockers: These medicines are used to interrupt the movement of calcium into the cells of the heart and blood vessels which decrease your heart’s pumping load and relax blood vessels. Doctors prescribe these medicines to treat high blood pressure, chest pain (angina) caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle, and some arrhythmias.
• Cholesterol-lowering medications: These include statins, nicotinic acids, cholesterol absorption inhibitors, and a combination of statin and cholesterol absorption inhibitors are used to lower blood cholesterol levels.
• Digitalis preparations: These medications are used to slow a fast heart rate, which is beneficial in treating heart failure and irregular heartbeats. Doctors prescribe these medicines to relieve heart failure symptoms, especially when the patient isn’t responding to other standard treatments including ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and diuretics. It can be used to slow certain types of irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), particularly atrial fibrillation.
• Diuretics (water pills): These medications are used to remove excess fluids and sodium through urination, which lowers the heart’s workload. It can also decrease fluid buildup in the lungs and other parts of the body, such as the ankles and legs. Doctors prescribe these medications to lower blood pressure and reduce swelling from the excess buildup of fluid in the body.
• Vasodilators: These medicines are used to widen the blood vessels so the blood flows more easily and the heart doesn’t have to work harder, and also decrease blood pressure. Some vasodilators called nitrates can increase the blood and oxygen supply to the heart while reducing its workload to ease your chest pain. Doctors prescribe these medicines to ease chest pain (angina), and high blood pressure and treat high blood pressure caused by pregnancy.

With advancements in technology, many cardiovascular medicines are designed to treat cardiovascular diseases and manage their symptoms. Depending on the type of cardiovascular disease and its underlying cause, some of the above-mentioned medicines will be prescribed to treat your symptoms and manage your condition.

If you need help with your cardiovascular problems, visit our cardiology clinic in Brownsville to get professional medical support. Call us on +1(347) 384-5690. The Cardiologists at Doral Health & Wellness consistently have outstanding patient satisfaction ratings. The professionals at Heart Specialist Brooklyn are able to greatly improve their patient’s health and quality of life because of their vast training and experience. New Yorkers can get the greatest medical, surgical, and cardiovascular care at Doral Health & Wellness Brooklyn. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.