Furosemide works by blocking the absorption of salt and fluid in the kidney tubules, causing a profound increase in urine output (diuresis).
Furosemide is used to treat excessive fluid accumulation and swelling (edema) of the body caused by heart failure, cirrhosis, chronic kidney failure, and nephrotic syndrome.
Furosemide may increase the toxic effect of aminoglycoside antibiotics on the ear, especially in patients with kidney dysfunction.
Furosemide can also be used to remove fluid from body cavities or peripheral tissues even when the cause is not heart failure.
Furosemide can also be helpful in reducing dangerously high potassium blood levels and has been used in the horse to treat excercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage (nose bleeds).
Furosemide is associated with an increase in blood sugar levels.
Furosemide (INN) or frusemide (former BAN) is a loop diuretic used in the treatment of congestive heart failure and edema.
Furosemide, as a loop diuretic, is principally used in the following indications (Aventis, 1998):
Apparently, sometime in the early 1970s, furosemide's ability to prevent or at least greatly reduce the incidence of bleeding by horses during races was discovered accidentally.
