In a big win for heart patients, national guidelines to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy now include the first-of-its-kind medication – cardiac myosin inhibitors – as a first-line treatment.
The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association published the new treatment recommendations in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in May.
The Role of Myosin Inhibitors
A healthy heartbeat requires muscles that squeeze to move blood through the heart, and then relax to allow the heart to fill again. In patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle is too thick and may squeeze too hard. If the heart doesn’t relax enough, the blood can’t pump properly.
Myosin inhibitors can help reduce that dangerous over squeezing in about two-thirds of patients. The medication works by reducing the interaction between actin and myosin, so that the heart does not squeeze as hard.
Updated Approach to Care Could Help Cardiac Patients Thrive
While other medications for more general heart conditions can provide hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients with some relief, myosin inhibitors are the first class of medications designed specifically to restore healthy heart function in patients whose heart muscle squeezes too tightly.
Patients may experience chest pain or shortness of breath, yet not realize those are signs of the heart condition. In rare cases, fainting or sudden death can occur because blood flow is obstructed.
In addition to medication, the guidelines acknowledged that many patients also benefit from moderate physical exercise. New protocols that help control hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can make exercise more possible. Some studies even showed cardiomyopathy patients returning to competitive athletics once their condition was treated with myosin inhibitors.
Stable heart function is essential to patient well-being. Cardiac myosin inhibitors represent a major step toward that goal, and the new guidelines can help providers know just when to use them.