Calcium channel blockers for heart failure
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) may be beneficial in some cases of diastolic heart failure, particularly if it is caused by left ventricular hypertrophy. Left ventricular hypertrophy is a complication of high blood pressure in which the heart muscle thickens in response to the high blood pressure in the arteries. For people with diastolic heart failure, CCBs can slow the heart rate and simultaneously lower the blood pressure, both of which can improve symptoms of diastolic heart failure.
Certain calcium channel blockers can sometimes be used to lower blood pressure in people with systolic heart failure. However, all CCBs must be used carefully in people with systolic forms of heart failure because they can make the pumping ability of the heart worse.
How CCBs treat heart failure
Calcium is important for the heart's ability to squeeze and pump blood out to the body. Before every heartbeat, an electrical pulse causes calcium to enter the cells of the heart. This calcium influx causes the muscle fibres to contract.
CCBs are drugs that block the entry of calcium into the cells of the heart by blocking the channels through which the calcium travels. This calcium-blocking effects causes your heart to beat more slowly and allows more time for your heart to fill between each heartbeat. This also decreases the workload on your heart and may help decrease symptoms such as shortness of breath. CCBs also improve relaxation of your heart muscle, which gives your heart more time to fill with blood.
CCBs also help reduce your blood pressure by relaxing the muscle tissue in your arteries as well as slowing down your heartbeat. These effects may both slow and reverse the tendency of your heart muscle to abnormally thicken, which can lead to diastolic heart failure.
| Author: | Douglas Dana Robin Parks, MS | Last Updated: October 23, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Stephen Fort, MD, MRCP, FRCPC - Interventional Cardiology | |
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