Findings from a survey by Cleveland Clinic researcher Nancy M. Albert, PhD, RN, and colleagues has recently brought to light that more than two-thirds of patients hospitalized with serious heart failure are not prescribed a major recommended drug which increases the chances of survival, an Aldosterone Antagonist.

Published in the setting of coronary failure, Aldosterone is an endocrine that causes salt and water retention. It can lead to worsening of heart failure symptoms like shortness of breath and leg swelling. An Aldosterone Antagonist blocks these Aldosterone induced actions and is a well recognized part of heart failure treatment.

Dr. Albert's survey, who followed up on 43,625 AA-eligible coronary failure patients released from 241 U. S. hospitals from 2005 through 2007, and reported - "Less than one-third of eligible patients hospitalized for heart failure ... received heart failure guideline-recommended Aldosterone antagonist therapy".

The study found that in 241 hospitals between the year 2005 and 2007, around one-third of eligible patients discharged on the medicine and usage by hospital varied to a great degree. Usage of this therapy increased by six percent over the three-year study period.

Scientists expect that this report will also augment the pace at which people with coronary failure are handled, following the subsisting guidelines.

The findings are all set to publish in the October 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.