Entresto, macular degeneration and Alzheimer's

[occasional thoughts]

I've been taking Entresto for CHF since 2016. I've also developed what is to me a rather aggressive dry macular degeneration in my right eye. The loss of vision is relentless; you never get better, you only stay the same (I should be so lucky) or it gets worse.

Playing around with Google on the weekend, I thought I'd see what the internet said about Entresto. Imaging my horror to see several medical researchers expressing grave concerns about Entresto almost as soon as it was approved, not long before I started on it; the concerns being that the body mechanics behind its positive effects on the heart were analytically similar to expected negative effects on Alzheimer's and macular degeneration causation. These concerns have been out there for at least two years, but no one ever informed me: not Interior Health which endorsed and recommended it, not my family doctor, not my cardiologist, not my ophthalmologist.

I'm looking to see if I'm the only person in the Central Okanagan who suffers from CHF AND macular degeneration. Entresto has indeed and apparently done wonders for my heart; with Entresto and a strong hiking regimen, I've got my heart function upt to "normal". Whether I would have traded loss of vision for that, I don't know; I don't think so.

[smoky500]

there is a requirement in the medical field for practitioners to tell patients the benefits AND the risks of any treatment, including drugs. It is called informed consent. If you were not informed of the risks, that is malpractice.

[Bsuds]

My Dr always tells me the pros and cons of any medication he prescribes.

[flamingfingers]

And my pharmacist follows up in case my doctor has missed my other prescription meds I am taking. The advantage you have by dealing with only one pharmacy dispensing all your prescription meds.

[occasional thoughts]

I talked to my pharmacist yesterday and had a regular appointment with my ophthalmologist yesterday; neither was aware of any concerns about Entresto. The problem is probably, as the medical researchers whose concerns pop up ala Google, are theoretical, not based on testing, but on knowledge that the mechanics of what Entresto does positively for the heart would have the opposite impact on Alzheimer's and AMD.

In raising this issue, I'm obviously wanting to hear from other people who on reflection may find a correlation between taking Entresto and onset or worsening AMD, and to alert others that serious learned concerns have been raised. One I read in full said Entresto was approved after only short studies; long studies are going on with completion 2022.

I started taking Entresto in Sept. 2016. I had my cataract removed in Oct. 2016 and I started noticing something wrong with my right eye in Nov. 2016. I lost my licence in Sept. 2017 and I am in the last throes of being able to read material on my laptop. Maybe all a coincidental? Maybe. I'd like to know. As predictable with AMD, I no longer read books, newspapers and magazines, see faces fully, and so on.