Understanding your heart medicines

Blood pressure medicines help to maintain a healthy blood pressure. This is important to improve the flow of oxygen-rich blood around the body. Some blood pressure medicines also help the heart to pump more easily.

Your doctor might prescribe a blood pressure medicine as part of a Heart Health Check. This is to reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

If you have had a heart attack, your healthcare team may start you on blood pressure medicines in hospital. You’ll need to keep taking these over the long term.

Different types of blood pressure medicines include:

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (or ACE inhibitors). The names of these medicines often end in ‘pril’.
• Angiotensin receptor blockers (or ARBs). The names of these medicines often end in ‘sartan’.
• Beta blockers. The names of these medicines often end in ‘lol’. Beta blockers are also prescribed for abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), heart failure and angina (chest pain).
• Calcium channel blockers. The names of these medicines often end in ‘pine’. 

Lipid-lowering medicines help to manage the levels of cholesterol and other fats in your blood. They can prevent fatty plaques building up in blood vessels (arteries).

High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. Your doctor might prescribe a lipid-lowering medicine as part of a Heart Health Check. This is to reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

If you have had a heart attack, your healthcare team may start you on lipid-lowering medicines in hospital. You’ll need to keep taking these over the long term.

Examples of lipid-lowering medicines include statins, ezetimibe and a class of medicines called PCSK9 inhibitors.

Anticoagulants and antiplatelets prevent blood clots forming. Anticoagulants can also treat existing blood clots.

These medicines reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke by preventing clots from blocking the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart and brain.

If you have a stent, these medicines can help prevent blood components from sticking together and forming clots.

People who have had a heart attack may need to take these medicines for several weeks or months.

You might also be prescribed medicines to stop blood clots forming if you have:

• abnormal heart rhythms
• had certain heart procedures.

Having an abnormal heart rate or rhythm means your heart is beating too fast, too slow or in an irregular way (for example, atrial fibrillation).

Examples of medicines to help stabilise the heart rate and rhythm include:

• adenosine
• amiodarone
• digoxin
• flecainide
• sotalol
• verapamil

These medicines are known as ‘nitrate medicines’. They improve the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

Nitrate medicines come in different forms and are often prescribed after a heart attack or angina episode.

• Long-acting nitrate medicines can be taken every day to prevent angina, in the form of a tablet or patch.
• Short-acting nitrate medicines can be taken when a person is having an angina episode. They come in the form of a tablet or spray that goes under the tongue. If you are prescribed this type of medicine, be sure to always keep it handy.

Beta blockers can also prevent angina.

Heart failure is a long-term condition where the heart doesn’t pump as well as it should. People with heart failure need to take multiple medicines. There are four main classes of medicines to manage heart failure.

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE inhibitors)/Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)/ Angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs). These medicines block the effects of certain hormones, helping the blood vessels to relax, reducing strain on the heart and making it easier for your heart to pump blood around your body.
• Beta blockers. These medicines block the release of the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. This reduces heart rate, meaning the heart can pump blood around your body more efficiently. These medicines also help to manage blood pressure.
• Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. These medicines work by blocking the effects of the hormone aldosterone to improve the structure and function of the heart.
• Sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors. These medicines help to manage fluid levels. They also help lower blood pressure, improve blood sugar control, and reduce inflammation.

1. Australian Medicines Handbook. Cardiovascular drugs. 2024. Accessed 10 Jan 2025. https://amhonline.amh.net.au/
2. Brieger D, Cullen L, Briffa T et al. National Heart Foundation of Australia & Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Australian clinical guideline for diagnosing and managing acute coronary syndromes 2024. (In draft).
3. Straw S, McGinlay M, Witte KK. Four pillars of heart failure: contemporary pharmacological therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Open Heart. 2021;8(1):e001585. doi: https://openheart.bmj.com/content/8/1/e001585