Beta-blockers have had a 40-year reign as the standard treatment for heart attack patients. That may come to an end, based on the results of two new studies.
An estimated 80 percent of people who experience a mild heart attack without lasting heart damage are prescribed beta-blockers, which block the effects of adrenaline in the body to lower blood pressure and heart rate. But an international study published Aug. 30 in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the medication offered no benefit to these patients.
What’s more, women who take beta-blockers may have an increased risk of other complications, like death, another heart attack or hospitalization for heart failure, the researchers found.
Dr. Borja Ibáñez, the study’s principal investigator and scientific director of Spain’s Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, said in a news release that the findings “represent one of the most significant advances in heart attack treatment in decades” and could change how doctors treat many patients in the future.
The study was conducted in patients “treated according to modern standards of care,” Ibáñez told AARP. These standards include quickly restoring blood flow to the heart after a blockage, opening all blocked arteries through surgery and using medications to lower blood pressure and prevent blood clots.
Older adults are more likely to experience a heart attack than their younger peers. For men, heart attack risk increases around the age of 45; for women, it rises around 55.
A closer look at the study
The study, conducted in Spain and Italy, involved 8,438 patients who had experienced a heart attack but had preserved heart function, meaning the heart still pumps effectively. About half of the study participants received beta-blocker therapy, and the other half used other treatments commonly prescribed to heart attack patients.
Participants attended four follow-up appointments within the same time frame to track their vitals and statistics. The results showed that there was no significant difference in death rates, recurrent heart attack or hospitalization or heart failure between the two groups.
“Another important practical finding is that the abrupt withdrawal of beta-blockers in these patients does not carry safety concerns, which has clear clinical relevance,” Ibáñez said.