A new heart failure treatment effect calculator will help doctors overcome concerns about prescribing life-saving medications, according to Aussie researchers. 

The first of its kind, the calculator has been launched by George Institute for Global Health having been modelled from almost 40,000 participants across nine major heart failure trials.

In Australia, around 150,000 people live with heart failure, and it accounts for almost one in 50 deaths. But despite significant advances in heart failure treatment and guidelines over the past 30 years, prescriber uptake has been deemed to be poor because of fears of adverse events resulting from the medications.

The calculator allows doctors to enter clinical details, including blood pressure, BMI, ejection fraction, baseline eGFR and potassium.