Medicines - heart / blood vessels

Glyceryl trinitrate / nitroglycerine

• Glyceryl trinitrate widens (dilates) the blood vessels, particularly around the heart and gives rapid relief from chest pain.
  
  
• It can be taken as a sublingual tablet which you place under the tongue, as a spray under your tongue or as an intravenous injection.

Beta-blockers

• Beta-blockers are a group of medicines which include atenolol, metoprolol and propranolol.
  
  
• Beta-blockers act by blocking the hormone adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) and the chemical noradrenaline (also known as norepinephrine) which is released from nerves supplying the heart.
  
  
• Blocking noradrenaline results in a slowing of the heart. This reduces the amount of work the heart has to do, so that it needs less oxygen, blood and nutrients.

ACE inhibitors

• ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors are a group of medicines which include captopril, enalapril, lisinopril and ramipril.
  
  
• ACE inhibitors block the production of a chemical angiotensin II. Angiotensin II causes narrowing (constriction) of blood vessels. Reduction of angiotension II levels results in the widening of blood vessels and reduces pressure on the heart.
  
  
• ACE inhibitors have been shown to improve the healing process in heart muscle which is important after a heart attack.