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Back to Cardiology Articles
Thursday, 9th September 2004
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New results show Altace to beneficial to people at high risk of heart attacks and stroke.
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Altace was found to lower the risk of sudden cardiac death and
nonfatal cardiac arrest in people at high risk of heart attacks
and stroke.
Altace (Rimipril)
belongs to a class of drugs known as
Angiotensin-converting
enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.
ACE
inhibitors are widely prescribed to patients following
heart attacks and for those with
heart failure. They are also recommended for people with high
blood pressure,
diabetes, and others at risk for
ACE
inhibitors and
stroke.
Altace blocks ACE from converting angiotensin I to angiotensin
II, a powerful vasoconstrictor, leading to decreased blood pressure,
decreased aldosterone secretion, a small increase in serum potassium
levels, and sodium and fluid loss; increased prostaglandin synthesis
also may be involved in the antihypertensive action.
Past studies have shown that these medications reduce the risk
of
heart attack and
stroke
in people with
heart
disease.
The HOPE Trial
The Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) study followed
a total of 9,297 high-risk patients who were aged 55+ either with
a history of
coronary artery disease (CAD),
stroke,
or peripheral vascular disease (PVD) or with
diabetes plus at least one other cardiovascular risk factor
(hypertension, elevated total cholesterol level, low high-density
lipoprotein cholesterol level, cigarette smoking, or documented
microalbuminuria.
The double blind, randomized study compared
Altace with vitamin E or placebo treatment. Researchers now
report that after an average of 4.5 years of treatment, 3% of the
patients taking the
ACE
inhibitor had died from
sudden
cardiac death or experienced a nonfatal
cardiac arrest, compared with 4% taking placebo. This translates
into a 21% reduction in unexpected deaths, deaths due to cardiac
arrest, or nonfatal cardiac arrest for those taking
Altace.
In the HOPE study, roughly three out of four patients were also
taking a
blood
thinner, a third were taking
cholesterol-lowering statins, half were taking
calcium channel blockers (another type of high blood pressure
medication), and two out of five were taking
beta-blockers.
Thus showing that even when people were on other medications, they
benefited from being on an
ACE
inhibitor.
These results stressed the importance in prescribing
ACE
inhibitors to patients at high risk of developing
heart
disease and
stroke.
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References
Teo et al. Circulation, Sept. 14, 2004.
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