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For nearly 40 years, millions of heart attack patients have been sent home with beta blocking drugs such as metoprolol, Torpor XL, carvedilol, Coreg, and bisoprolol, Zebeta.

Cardiologists at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, working with international collaborators, studied more than 8,500 patients who had uncomplicated heart attacks and whose heart pumping function remained normal. They presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Their data shows that, for these patients, beta blockers did not significantly reduce the risk of death, another heart attack, or hospitalization for heart failure during nearly four years of follow-up. These findings challenge a treatment approach that has been routine for decades.

Even worse, a related analysis finds that the women with normal heart function after their heart attacks who received beta blockers had a higher risk of death, heart attack, or hospitalization for heart failure compared with women who did not receive the drugs.

Now the researchers do caution this latter finding requires further study but suggest that beta-blocker treatment decisions for women require an immediate re-evaluation. They emphasize that beta blockers remain helpful for many cardiac patients including those with reduced heart function.

A reminder: Do not stop any prescribed medications based on any information you hear from me or read elsewhere without discussing the decision with your own healthcare team.

The references for this report are available on my website.

#HeartHealth #MedicalResearch #HeartAttackRecovery #Cardiology #HealthyAging