Beta blockers not needed after heart attack if other medications taken
Heart-attack survivors are usually prescribed all three drugs to help prevent a second attack and death. However, the beta blockers offer no additional benefit for patients who take the other two drugs as prescribed, according to the new study, which examined the trade-offs and consequences of using some of the medicines instead of others. The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology . Researchers looked at more than 90,000 Medicare patients age 65 or older who had suffered a heart attack and were prescribed a beta blocker, ACE inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker and statin as preventive therapies after they were discharged from the hospital. Patients who only took the ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker and statin, as prescribed, were no more likely to die than those who took all three drugs. The research team from UNC-Chapel Hill, Monash University, the University of Iowa and the University of Eastern Finland was led ...