Beta blockers may offer no benefit for heart attack patients, and women can have worse outcomes

Beta blockers—drugs commonly prescribed for a range of cardiac conditions, including heart attacks—provide no clinical benefit for patients who have had an uncomplicated myocardial infarction with preserved heart function. Beta blockers have been the standard treatment for these patients for 40 years. This is a breakthrough discovery from the "REBOOT Trial." Additionally, a REBOOT substudy, shows that women treated with beta blockers had a higher risk of death, heart attack, or hospitalization for heart failure compared to women not receiving the drug. Men did not have this increased risk. Says Borja Ibáñez, MD.l, "Currently, more than 80% of patients with...