Beta Blockers May Cause Depressive Symptoms

MONDAY, Nov. 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Beta-blocker treatment can lead to a modest increase in depressive symptoms among patients who have myocardial infarction with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), according to a study published online Oct. 3 in the European Heart Journal: Acute CardioVascular Care.

Philip Leissner, from Uppsala University in Sweden, and colleagues investigated the effects of beta blockers on self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. The prespecified subanalysis included data from 806 participants in the REDUCE-AMI trial that compared beta-blocker versus no beta-blocker treatment on outcomes following myocardial infarction with preserved LVEF.

The researchers found that at baseline, 27 percent of patients had possible anxiety and 14 percent had possible depression. Beta-blocker treatment had a negative effect on depressive symptoms at two follow-up points: six to 10 weeks and 12 to 14 months (β = 0.48 and β = 0.41, respectively). However, there were no significant effects on anxiety at either follow-up point.

"Most doctors used to give beta blockers even to patients without heart failure, but as the evidence in favor of doing so is no longer so strong, this should be reconsidered," Leissner said in a statement. "We could see that some of these patients appear to be more at risk of depression. If the drug doesn't make a difference to their heart, then they are taking it unnecessarily and at risk of becoming depressed."

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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