Did Beta Blockers Get a Bad Rap?
Doctors have been taught for many years that beta blockers are bad for people with heart failure. Is it true? A famous clinic trial called COPERNICUS followed about 2,200 patients with severe heart failure. They all got the standard treatment for heart failure, which included ACE inhibitors, digitalis, and diuretics. Then they were randomly assigned to get either a placebo, or a drug called carvedilol. There was a 35% increase in survival rates among those who received carbedilol over the placebo. Patients who received the beta blocker had no more side effects than those who got a placebo! Since then, two other drugs have received similar results in clinical trials. Those drugs are bisoprolol and metoprolol. Despite the fact that there’s remarkable evidence that shows that beta blockers are extremely beneficial in the treatment of heart failure, too many doctors are still prejudiced against them because of the long history of distrust of their ability to treat heart failure.
