In a head-to-head study, heart-failure patients taking a new beta-blocker drug called carvedilol lived longer than those prescribed an older version. The Carvedilol or Metoprolol European Trial (COMET) tested 3,029 patients from 15 European countries and 317 centers over a period of six years.
Carvedilol, marketed as Coreg[R] in the United States, reduces the amount of work for the heart and improves its ability to pump blood through the body. The drug is approved for treating hypertension, as well as to reduce the risk of hospitalization in heart-failure patients.
Metoprolol tartrate--the type of metoprolol used in the COMET study--is a generic form of Lopressor[R].
Nearly five million Americans are now living with heart failure.
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