Beta Blockers May Not Prevent Heart Attacks and Strokes

 

By SYDNEY LUPKIN

Oct. 2, 2012
 

New research suggests that beta-blocker pills don't prevent heart attacks, strokes or cardiac deaths in patients with heart disease, but doctors are torn over whether there's enough in the study to make them want to stop prescribing the drugs. Beta blockers have been a standard heart medication for decades.

The study, published in the Journal of American Medical Association, looked at nearly 45,000 patients with prior heart attacks, coronary artery disease or risk factors for coronary artery disease, and found that those on beta blockers didn't show significantly lower rates of heart attack, stroke or cardiac death than those not on the medication.

"This is a very compelling study that has the potential to shake up the conventional wisdom that exists regarding the role of beta blockers in the management of patients with cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Randal Thomas, a cardiovascular specialist at the Mayo Clinic. "At a minimum, it will lead to new studies that address this issue once again."

Beta blockers work by blocking adrenalin receptors in the brain that become activated when the body is stressed. Beta blockers are used to treat heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety and other conditions.

Some doctors say they are glad beta blockers are being questioned because their use had been "written in stone" for so many years, but others say using a non-randomized data sample is not as reliable as a randomized drug trial.

While the authors attempted to account for differences between the patient groups that might have had an impact on their health, they did not have access to information on why some patients were prescribed these drugs and some were not, said Dr. Richard Besser, the chief heath and medical editor at ABC News.

Dr. Melvin Rubenfire, who directs cardiovascular medicine at the University of Michigan, said he'd been hoping for a study like this, but it won't change his prescribing habits because he uses beta blockers only in specific cases. Rubenfire also weans patients off the pills 18 months after they have a heart attack if they experience adverse side effects, such as fatigue and erectile dysfunction.

Rubenfire said the existing data wasn't enough to determine which patients would benefit from beta blockers, and what kinds of beta blockers are better than others. Beta blockers include at least six brand names, including Sectral, Tenormin and Zebeta.

Even study coauthor Christopher Cannon, a professor at Harvard Medical School, said he will continue to prescribe beta blockers to his patients, adding "I would not make too much of this" because the study is only observational.

"All it can do is raise up an idea for us researchers to consider for further study," he said.

Cannon said this research shows that it's unclear whether beta blockers add more benefit than the other therapies developed in the decades since beta blockers became a standard of practice for treating patients with heart disease. Since patients are often taking several drugs, it's hard to pinpoint how much one agent helps compared with another.

Dr. Steven Nissen, who chairs the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, said the medicine might not be ideal for all of the patients it's prescribed to, but a new randomized, controlled trial will be necessary to change guidelines for prescribing beta blockers.

"Abandonment of this type of therapy for post-MI [post-heart attack] patients based upon an observational study is not warranted," he said.

For the time being, the study raises questions, said Dr. Harlan Kumhulz, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and public health at Yale University.

"The question it raises is about how long after having a heart attack should patients remain on beta blockers?" Kumhulz said, noting that beta-blocker patients didn't have better outcomes than the other patients did after the first year. "The study cannot definitively answer that question -- but raises doubts about the need to continue to take them for the rest of a patient's life."

Dr. Lauren Hughes of the ABC News Medical Unit contributed to this report.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/beta-blockers-prevent-heart-attack-stroke-study-jama/story

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

 

Is the Mainstream Finally Catching On?

 

 

It’s like a really bad joke – the scary news about FDA-approved drugs. Seems every month a study shows that a drug either increases your risk of toxic side effects… or another disease… or even the one it’s supposed to prevent!

Or, best-case scenario, we learn the drug simply doesn’t work.

This latest and worst is about beta blockers. You’ve probably heard of them. Doctors prescribe these drugs to lower blood pressure. They are also used to treat abnormal heart rhythm and chest pain. And physicians usually prescribe them to people who have already had a heart attack to prevent another one.

Millions of people take these pills every day. They think it makes them safe from heart attack. Yet, not surprisingly, that just isn’t the case.

A study in JAMA (Journal of the American Heart Association) brings us this news from a very reliable source. It’s called REACH. It’s a worldwide registry of patients with heart disease or risk factors.

Researchers sifted through REACH data on nearly 45,000 people. They looked at four years’ worth of evidence.¹

What they discovered was shocking. Well not to us… but would be for most people.

It didn’t matter whether or not the patient had already had a heart attack. The beta-blockers did not prevent another heart attack or stroke. And the patients were no less likely to die from their heart condition.

Oh, a tiny fraction fared better. These were the people who’d had the most recent heart attacks. They were less likely to have another heart attack or hospitalization.

But overall, the beta-blockers made no difference in the patients’ outcome. That bears repeating…

The beta blockers did not help save their lives!

“Plenty of people are taking the medications who don’t need them,” says researcher Dr. Lydia Bazzano of Tulane University.²

“A lot of physicians still prescribe beta-blockers, especially in patients who have known [coronary artery disease],” says lead researcher Dr. Sripal Bangalore of the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. “We need clinical trials to say which are the patients who would benefit from beta-blockers.” ³

Given all the evidence, it’s hard to believe that anyone would actually benefit. A few months ago, we heard that beta blockers actually spiked blood pressure levels.⁴

Apparently, there’s a lot we don’t know about these prescription medications. Problem is, the patent on beta blockers has expired. That means drug companies have no more incentive to study them. There will be no more clinical trials to address these problems.

Many people don’t like beta blockers because of the side effects – fatigue, upset stomach, dizziness, constipation, diarrhea, feeling lightheaded.⁵ Also, beta blockers can cause weight gain.⁶

Since these drugs are generic, they’re cheap. And many, many people take them for YEARS. Yet, as we see in this study, there’s no evidence they work at all!

It brings to mind the evidence against statin drugs. Doctors prescribe them to lower LDL “bad” cholesterol, and to prevent build-up of plaque in arteries.

But, we wondered, how safe are these drugs?

The evidence was clear, in one major study. Patients who took statins actually had MORE plaque in their arteries.⁷ Sad, but true.

This news about beta blockers, then, comes as no real surprise. And if you read Health Watch regularly, you know the best ways to avoid heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.⁸ I’m talking about solutions that really work. Without all the crazy side effects.

First, avoid simple carbs and grains. They raise blood sugar which releases insulin into your system. Insulin stores and builds fat – especially around the waist. That leads to inflammation and heart disease. Also, avoid vegetable oils as they contain unhealthy omega-6 fatty acids. They cause chronic inflammation.

Avoid fried foods, of course. Also, switch from grain-fed “regular” beef and chicken – and embrace organic. Eat plenty of wild, organic berries. And make sure you get plenty of exercise.
These simple changes are sure to help… without any nasty side effects.

P.S. Of course, there are many other all-natural ways to strengthen your heart. Our health research team has uncovered:

• One all-natural supplement that’s more effective than statin drugs (and without the risks)…
• One specific food group – backed by findings from the National Institutes of Health – that reduces heart disease risk by 15 percent in just three months…
• And a Harvard study that shows how one type of exercise drastically slashes heart disease risk.

Find out how you can learn these safe, effective methods for combating heart disease by reading the short letter here.

References:
¹http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1367524
²http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/common-heart-drugs-may-be-less-helpful-than-thought
³http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/common-heart-drugs-may-be-less-helpful-than-thought
⁴http://naturalhealthdossier.com/2012/05/why-blood-pressure-drugs-can-make-the-problem-worse-and-how-to-beet-this-common-condition-with-a-delicious-food/
⁵http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ByAudience/ForWomen/ucm118594.htm”>http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ByAudience/ForWomen/ucm118594.htm
⁶http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21304487
⁷http://naturalhealthdossier.com/2012/09/new-research-shows-this-deadly-drug-is-even-worse-than-we-knew/
⁸http://naturalhealthdossier.com/2010/10/slash-heart-disease-risk-by-81-percent/

 

http://naturalhealthdossier.com/2012/10/is-the-mainstream-finally-catching-on/