Drugs traditionally used for the treatment of gastric ulcers could have therapeutic potential in chronic heart failure, according to new research coming out of Japan.
One outcome showed that famotidine appears to reduce left ventricular end-diastolic (LVD-d) and end-systolic (LVD) lengths and reduce BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide) levels.
"Heartwire" reported that Dr. Jiyoong Kim (National Cardiovascular Center, Suita City, Japan) and colleagues publish findings of their combined retrospective/prospective studies with famotidine (Pepcid, Johnson & Johnson/Merck) in the Sept. 26, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. They indicate that large-scale clinical trials will be needed to prove their theory.
Drs. Gary S. Francis and W.H. Wilson Tang (Cleveland Clinic, OH) were somewhat critical of the data-mining technique in their accompanying editorial, but were not entirely skeptical.
"We need some new and imaginative thinking in this arena, and perhaps this article—albeit preliminary and provocative—will serve to provide that," they concluded.
May 20, 2024 
