What Is An Angiotensin Receptor Blocker?

— -- Question: What is an Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB), how does it work, and when is it used to treat heart failure?

Answer: An angiotensin receptor blocker is a class of drugs used for the treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure, that are in a class called the renin angiotensin-aldosterone system class of medications. These medications have been tested in patients with systolic heart failure as well as in patients with diastolic heart failure.

And we now know that in addition to lowering blood pressure, these medicines may be associated with improvement in the heart failure syndrome in terms of reducing the rate of heart failure hospitalizations, reducing cardiovascular events, and even in providing the signal towards an improvement in survival.