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Latest High Blood Pressure News<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, July 14, 2020<\/p>\n
Millions of Americans are prescribed blood pressure<\/a> medicines called beta blockers<\/a>, especially after a heart attack<\/a>. But a new Italian study finds that these go-to drugs<\/a> might not work as well for women as they do for men.<\/p>\n “What we found presents a solid case for reexamination of the use of beta blocker therapy for women with hypertension<\/a>,” said study lead author Dr. Raffaele Bugiardini, professor of cardiology at the University of Bologna.<\/p>\n The study couldn’t prove a cause-and-effect link, but among patients taking beta blockers<\/a>, women had a 4.6% higher rate of heart failure<\/a> than men when going to the hospital with a heart<\/a> attack or chest pain<\/a> (angina<\/a>), the study found.<\/p>\n “For women who have no history of cardiovascular disease<\/a> and only hypertension<\/a>, we think it is incredibly important for them to regulate their blood pressure<\/a> through diet<\/a> and exercise<\/a> [first],” Bugiardini said in a news release from the journal Hypertension<\/a><\/i>. His team published the findings in the journal on July 13.<\/p>\n The new research involved almost 14,000 people from 12 European countries. All had been diagnosed with high blood pressure<\/a> but had not been diagnosed with heart disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n Besides the nearly 5% higher odds of developing heart failure<\/a> overall after heart attack<\/a>, the study found that the type of heart<\/a> attack mattered.<\/p>\n Women who had a form of heart attack in which a coronary artery is completely blocked and a large part of the heart muscle is unable to receive blood — a so-called “ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction<\/a> [STEMI]” attack — were 6.1% more likely to have heart failure than men with the same type of heart attack.<\/p>\n In contrast, men and women not taking beta blockers had about the same rate of heart failure, according to the study.<\/p>\n “It’s possible that the increased risk of heart failure for women is due to an interaction between hormone replacement therapy<\/a> and beta blockers, though this information was not collected or tested in our study,” Bugiardini said. “This and other potential factors need to be investigated in more depth.”<\/p>\n Experts in the United States said the findings show the importance of research focused on women.<\/p>\n
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