Combination Therapy for Heart Failure - Dissertation Example

A new paradigm was therefore taken to combining the three independent interventions in a manner that made the presence of ACE inhibitors constant. The resulting combined therapies that were produced were ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, and endothelin receptor, antagonists. Different tests were conducted on patients with heart failure to find out the most preferred inclusion and exclusion criteria that work for different patients when attempting to use any of the combined therapies. The general approach taken towards the study was to use a literature search. The literature search produced results that showed that when used independently, the three therapies produced less effective results than when used as combined therapies. But even with the combined therapies, it was more favorable to use ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers than ACE inhibitors and endothelin receptor antagonists.

INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Heart failure continues to be one of the most fatal health problems that face a good number of people in the course of their living. Due to the fatal nature of the disease, there continues to be rapid development in research and development in the disease area to find some of the most effective and effaceable interventions that can be used in treating the disease. In a recent study by Raya, Gay, Aguirre, and Goldman (2009), it was pointed out that single interventions to heart failures have only been effective in controlling most forms of symptoms and signs and not totally eradicating the problem. Because of this, a new approach to the treatment of heart disease, which deals with the use of combined interventions has evolved. In such combined interventions, two independent management solutions are put together as a single effective treatment or control for cases of heart failure. In the current study, two of the most commonly used combined interventions are discussed and clinically experimented with. These two combined interventions are beta-blockers and ace inhibitors, and endothelin receptor antagonists and ace inhibitors. Writing on the use of combined interventions, Pfeffer and Braunwald (2000) noted that it is always appropriate to choose a combined intervention over single interventions given the fact that greater portions of disease symptoms are catered for. What is more, the various independent interventions cater for and complement the weaknesses of each other.

Purpose of the Study
The study is being conducted with an understanding and regard for the effectiveness of using combined approaches to heart failure. In line with this, two separate combined interventions will be tested; one against the other.