Pacemakers, rather than beta blockers, could be a better treatment for heart failure

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Many patients with heart failure may benefit more from having a pacemaker than being treated with beta blockers.
More than half of the 550,000 or so Americans diagnosed with heart failure every year have the so-called non-systolic form, which has only recently been recognized. In non-systolic heart failure, the heart functions normally at rest, but falters when the person goes about their daily activities, leaving them exhausted and breathless.

Doctors at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now say that those with non-systolic heart failure may benefit more from treatment with a pacemaker rather than with a beta blocker. Pacemakers speed up the heartbeat, while beta blockers slow it down. Some patients may benefit from a combination of device and drug, speeding up the heart and slowing it down at different times. More needs to be understood about the best treatment for heart failure, because the numbers of older adults who have the condition, especially woman over 50, is on the increase.

Source
Circulation online 6th November 2006

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