New study casts further doubt on benefits of beta blockers
It’s called the “standard of care” for anyone with heart disease or who has suffered a heart attack.
Now, however, some new research is reevaluating this knee-jerk approach to dispensing drugs known as beta blockers to all post heart-attack patients.
And this isn’t the first time that these meds — which block the effects of adrenalin, slow down your heart rate and lower blood pressure — have been called into question.
As you’ve read right here in eAlerts, the well-known side effects of beta blockers include dizziness, lightheadedness and a very slow heart rate — all of which can increase the likelihood of taking a serious fall.
But this new study piles another layer of uncertainty and risk on the routine use of this very old class of drugs that are often given out “just because.”
As drugs go, beta blockers have been around for a long time — over 50 years!
They were considered so important that the scientist who invented the very first one, which was used for angina, won the Nobel Prize in medicine!
But like a lot of things in health care, dispensing these meds — dozens of which are currently available — has become so routine, doctors probably haven’t given it a second thought for decades.
Now, a study out of the University of Leeds has taken a close look at the data involving nearly 180,000 UK patients who suffered a heart attack and were prescribed the usual beta-blocker meds. And for those patients, none of whom had heart failure, the researchers found no advantage at all in prescribing these drugs.
But for anyone who has been following the research, that shouldn’t have been a big surprise.
Almost five years ago, another study on beta blockers was expected to “shake up the conventional wisdom” that these drugs are a vital staple in heart care, a top doctor at the Mayo Clinic noted at the time. Yet even that study didn’t seem to slow down the rush to hand these meds out like candy one iota!
That research, which was published in JAMA, looked not only at patients who had suffered a heart attack, but also at those who had both heart disease and even risk factors for cardiac problems.
And after crunching the data on almost 45,000 heart patients, the conclusion was that beta blockers didn’t prevent heart attacks or stroke or even lower the numbers of those who died from heart disease.
Then there was the research that came out just last year linking these drugs to episodes of major depression.
Now, depression is a serious problem for those who have had a heart attack for some very good reasons. Certainly seeing your life flash before your eyes can do that to you! But to make it a vicious cycle, many experts believe depression is also a big risk factor in suffering a second heart attack.
So, when Scottish researchers discovered that beta blockers (and another class of heart meds called calcium channel antagonists) could double the risk of suffering from major depression, you would think that would be the final straw to really “shake up the conventional wisdom” on the subject!
But apparently, that didn’t happen, either. Because not only are these drugs still routinely prescribed after a heart attack, they are also widely used to treat hypertension.
And if you’ve been prescribed one to lower your blood pressure, there’s something else you need to know.
Nearly a decade ago, after examining nine “major” clinical trials in the U.S. about hypertension, researchers found that beta blockers are actually dangerous when used for that purpose.
Besides exhibiting lower heart rates and lower blood pressure, patients taking them also had a higher risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, developing heart failure and dying.
Many doctors who are familiar with the evidence against beta blockers, but afraid to go against the norm entirely, are still prescribing these meds after a heart attack — but only for a limited period afterwards. So, if you’re taking them for that reason, it may be time to schedule a visit with your cardiologist and find out if you can discontinue using them.
And if you’re taking them to lower your blood pressure, you also need to talk to your doctor about getting off them ASAP.
If your blood pressure is truly high (which for those 60 and older is said to be a reading of over 150/90 — not that absurd 120/80) there are many nutritional approaches as well as supplements that can help you get it down without drugs.
But a note of caution: Despite all we now know about the dark side of beta blockers,to stop taking these drugs suddenly or without first consulting your doctor is definitely not a good idea as it can trigger heart palpitations and a sudden sharp rise in blood pressure.
“Some heart attack patients may not benefit from beta blockers” University of Leeds, May 29, 2017, ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com
