Getting Better Beats From Weakened Hearts

By Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes Magazine

Better treatments for heart failure are sorely needed. Cytokinetics is testing a drug that strengthens muscle contractions.

Mixed blessing: thanks to better medical treatment, the death rate for heart attack and angina patients fell by a third over the two decades through 2004. But heart attack survivors often go on to develop congestive heart failure, a condition in which a weakened heart is unable to pump enough blood to the body's organs. In extreme cases patients' lungs and limbs fill up with water, making them feel as if they are drowning. The U.S. spent $37 billion treating congestive heart failure last year.

The drugs for heart failure work, but only for a subset of patients. As many as 30% of patients who take beta blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors die, and another 40% are readmitted to the hospital within six months. "The mortality rate remains terrible," says Bertram Pitt, a cardiologist at the University of Michigan. "There is a great need for new approaches."

Complete Story >> http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0301/technology-heart-failure-biotech-cardiology-priming-pump-better.html