The Journey Toward Advances in Diuretics Management: Quite Far and Not Far Enough

The earliest report of medicinal diuretic effect dates at least to 1807, when a patient noted diuresis as a side effect of mercury, which he had been taking to treat syphilis (Figure 1). Later reports note success with mercurial treatment of renal or cardiac dropsy.1 It was a time before randomized trials, yet the clinical benefit of diuretics – particularly loop diuretics – in patients with heart failure was so clear, rapid, and potent, relative to previously available therapies, that observational experience convinced most clinicians that diuretics would serve an important role in heart failure management.
Source: Journal of Cardiac Failure - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research