Cardiovascular diseases
Chronic Heart Failure (HFpEF)
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s nutrition and oxygen needs. This leads to symptoms such as dyspnea, exercise intolerance, and fluid retention.
The volume of blood pumped by the heart is determined by:
- The contraction of the heart muscle — how well the heart squeezes
- The filling of the heart chambers — how well the heart relaxes and fills with blood
Heart failure is classified based on which of these two functions is abnormal. Ejection fraction is used to assess the pump function of the heart; it represents the percentage of blood pumped from the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber) per beat. A normal ejection fraction is greater than or equal to 50 percent.
If the heart pumps normally but is too stiff to fill properly, the condition is known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which currently represents approximately 50 % of heart failure (HF) cases, is common and associated with high morbidity and mortality. Overall prevalence of HFpEF has been reported to be 1.1–5.5 % in the general population.
Drug treatment of chronic heart failure is dominated by well-established drugs i.e. diuretics, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers. No medication classes have reduced cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in HFpEF.
Arega Medical has a repurposed triple therapy, a precision medicine project from the network pharmacology concept, in phase 2 development for a subselection of HFpEF patients.
Resistant Hypertension
Hypertension affects 32% of adults in western countries. It is high blood pressure defined as a systolic pressure reading of 140 mmHg or more or a diastolic reading of 90 mmHg or more.
A considerable number of patients fail to reach target blood pressure ranges despite lifestyle advice and standard medical therapy. It is estimated that approximately 10% of hypertensive patients in westernized countries have resistant hypertension.
We speak of resistant hypertension if blood pressure remains above 140/90 mmHg despite use of three antihypertensive medications of different classes at the best tolerated doses, one of which must be a diuretic.
Resistant hypertension is important to recognize because it places patients at risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.
Arega Medical has a repurposed triple therapy, a precision medicine project from the network pharmacology concept, in phase 2 development for a subselection of resistant hypertension patients.