TranslateSabrina Cuddy • April 26, 2023
HCM Medications
Sabrina Cuddy
May is about medical management here at the HCMA. Medical management means using medications and other non-invasive therapies to treat disease and relieve symptoms. It’s exciting that new treatments for HCM are being studied and that the FDA approved Camzyos last year! It is historic for treatments to be targeted for HCM.
HCM can cause various symptoms depending on how stiff the heart is, how much scarring there is, and whether there is obstruction. Some people have no noticeable symptoms. Symptoms of HCM may include chest pain/pressure, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, fatigue, palpitations, syncope (fainting)/near-syncope, and brain fog.
Medications are the first-line treatment for symptoms of HCM. Here are some medications used to treat HCM and what they’re used for:
- Beta Blockers – make your heart beat slower and relax better, allowing the heart to fill more completely between beats. They can lower blood pressure and relieve symptoms like chest pain, breathlessness, and palpitations.
- Calcium Channel Blockers – are used to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. May reduce symptoms from obstruction in HCM.
- Myosin Inhibitors – cause the heart to beat with less force. They may reduce obstruction and septal thickness in some patients. Camzyos (mavacamten) is the first of this class of medication. For more information, click HERE.
- Antiarrhythmics – used to try to restore normal rhythm in the heart.
- Blood Thinners – anticoagulants make it harder for blood to clot. They are prescribed to reduce the risk of stroke, which is higher in patients with afib, aflutter, and artificial heart valves.
- Diuretics – “water pills” are used to help the kidneys get rid of extra water and salt, reducing swelling in the body.
- Sodium Channel Blockers – may reduce gradient in obstructive HCM and can treat chest pain.
- Antibiotics – treat or prevent bacterial infections. In HCM, they may be given before dental work to prevent infective endocarditis.
To learn more and see the side effects of these medications, click HERE.
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HCMA Blog
Summer, greetings to all our big-hearted friends As July approaches, our focus is already on the fall and preparing for some major events, including our annual meeting coming up in October. July will also find us on the west coast in Seattle conducting a regional patient education meeting as part of our big-hearted warrior tour. We have been following the generic drug quality issue in the United States very closely and encourage you to watch the series starting with our Hill briefing in April and following with the additional webinars with our partners at Medshadow and the People's Pharmacy, and of course the ProPublica series of articles. See them all here . We are happy to have a new team member on board - we welcome Pam as our coordinator of both our All Hearts Collaborative and Hearts and Minds project. Over the next few months, you're going to be learning more about these two amazing initiatives and how we are working to provide better services for big hearts regardless of where you live, so we are meeting all of our big-hearted friends where they are. Please stay tuned for updates from these projects coming soon. We are also creating new volunteer opportunities and engagements that we hope will make it easier for you to participate in spreading the message of the importance of diagnosis, the importance of community readiness related to CPR and AED use and, of course, helping patients get to their ultimate diagnosis and getting them on the proper treatment pathways. This July I would like to recognize all of the special birthdays in my family, including HCMA Center of Excellence coordinator, Stacey Titus-brown and my daughter Rebecca Salberg. It's a milestone birthday for Becca - it’s hard to believe I have a 30-year-old child. Wishing you all a happy and healthy summer. Go build some memories!
Getting HCM care at a HCMA Recognized Center of Excellence has a positive impact on patient's outcomes. Find out why in the post by Health Educator Sabrina Cuddy
Investigative journalists Debbie Cenziper, Megan Rose, Brandon Roberts and Irena Hwang from Pro Publica and NPR have concluded a 14-month long investigation into the quality of generic drugs coming into the United States from overseas. Among the many voices that spoke up for American patients was HCMA Founder and CEO, Lisa Salberg who has felt the effects of low-quality drugs personally. Salberg believes that fixing this problem is something we can do, even in this time, when even health care is highly politicized. Read the key takeaways from ProPublica’s 14-month investigation into the FDA’s oversight of foreign drugmakers in Threat in Your Medicine Cabinet: The FDA’s Gamble on America’s Drugs .