Docs Overprescribe THIS Common Heart Med?!
Big Pharma doesn’t want to provide cures.
They want lifetime customers.
To do that, they must convince your doctor that you NEED a drug for the rest of your life. The doc writes your prescription, and then you’re HOOKED.
Case in point: There’s a current standard procedure to prescribe a common heart med to patients who have had a heart attack.
But new research reveals it’s an outdated practice that needs a MAJOR overhaul.
Beta-blockers are drugs used to manage abnormal heart rhythms, angina, and high blood pressure.
They’re also commonly prescribed to heart attack patients to help prevent a heart attack recurrence or other cardiac complication.
And this means you’ll take them for the rest of your life.
But this standard of practice is based on outdated clinical trials that didn’t factor in current improvements in health care.
Which means you could be on a drug for the rest of your life that’s ALL risk and NO reward!
Researchers studied more than 43,000 adults who suffered a heart attack between 2005 and 2016. None of these patients had heart failure or left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD).
More than 34,253 of these patients had been prescribed beta-blockers (and were still taking them more than a year later), while 9,365 weren’t given the drugs.
Researchers compared these two groups to see if there was any difference in future heart attack rates, hospital admissions for heart failure, revascularization procedures, or death.
I’m sure you know where this is going…
They found there was NO BENEFIT to long-term treatment with beta-blockers.
In fact, there were no improved cardiovascular outcomes over 4.5 years. And there was “no discernible difference” between the two groups in the rates of…
- second heart attacks
- revascularization
- hospital admission for heart failure
Now, this was an observational study. So there were variables the researchers couldn’t account for (such as how faithfully the meds were taken). Plus, the study only evaluated certain cardiovascular outcomes.
But it still should make you question whether these drugs are really worth the risk.
If you’ve had a heart attack but don’t have heart failure or LVSD, talk to your doctor about whether a lifetime of beta-blockers is the best option for you.
P.S. A recent study found a key superfood that can lower the risk of a second cardiovascular event like a heart attack—and even death—in those with heart disease. I’ve got all the details RIGHT HERE.
SOURCE:
“Association of beta-blockers beyond 1 year after myocardial infarction and cardiovascular outcomes.” Heart. 2023 May 2:heartjnl-2022-322115. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2022-322115. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37130746.
