Heart Advisor - Beta-blockers can be heart health lifesavers: these drugs can help restore normal heart function in patients with heart failure or who have suffered a heart…
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Beta-blockers, such as metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol-XL), were used to treat high blood pressure for years before their benefit to patients with heart failure was discovered. The drugs make the heart beat more slowly and less forcefully by preventing adrenaline from causing the coronary arteries to constrict.
Studies showed beta-blockers reduce the number of deaths from heart failure by 50 percent. The drugs also slow the progression of the disease, improve the measure of heart failure severity, and reduce hospitalizations.
Beta-blockers reduce the size of the heart and increase the heart’s pumping ability, helping return the organ to normal functioning.
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Despite these impressive accomplishments, beta-blockers have a number of documented side effects, including erectile dysfunction, hair loss (alopecia), dizziness, shortness of breath, and nightmares, among others.
Because the drugs slow the metabolism, patients also may gain weight and feel tired.
For patients with high blood pressure, but without coronary artery disease or heart failure, beta-blockers may not be the best choice until other medications have been exhausted.
“In addition to numerous side effects, they do not lower blood pressure as effectively as other drugs, nor do they lower the risk of stroke like other blood pressure medications do,” says Dr. Cho.
That said, beta-blockers are invaluable for patients with severe coronary artery disease, a previous heart attack or a diagnosis of heart failure, because they help return the weakened organ to normal functioning. “We think beta-blockers are great for these people,” says Dr. Cho.
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COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
