Beta Blockers Do Nothing To Stop Heart Attacks

For decades, doctors have been handing out beta blockers to patients with heart disease, based on the supposition that a drug that counteracts the effects of adrenaline, slowing the heart and lowering blood pressure, would reduce the risk of heart attack. Now comes a study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, that suggests that they do not. The Los Angeles Times reports on the study, which compared heart attack rates in nearly 45,000 people who had heart disease or a risk of developing it and either took or didn’t take beta blockers. The bottom line: 16.9 percent of the people on beta blockers died or suffered a stroke or another attack, compared with 18.6 percent of those not taking the drugs. Read more in the L.A. Times.