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Beta blocker usage called into question
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New research challenges established medical practice that all heart attack patients should be on beta blockers.
The study – by a research team at the University of Leeds – looked at patients who had a heart attack but did not suffer heart failure.
It found that heart attack patients who did not have heart failure did not live any longer after being given beta blockers – yet around 95% of patients who fall into this category end up on the medication.
The research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, raises the possibility that the drugs are being over prescribed, and may burden patients and the NHS with unnecessary medicine costs.
Chris Gale, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Leeds and Consultant Cardiologist at York Teaching Hospital Trust, said: "There is uncertainty in the evidence as to the benefit of beta-blockers for patients with heart attack and who do not have heart failure. This study suggests that there may be no mortality advantage associated with the prescription of beta-blockers for patients with heart attack and no heart failure. A necessary next step is the investigation of beta-blockers in this population in a randomised controlled trial."