iversity of Maryland reviewed the medical records of 200,000 people who had a heart attack in 1994 or 1995. After discharge from the hospital, 34 percent had been prescribed beta-blockers, and during the next two years, people treated with beta-blockers had a 40 percent lower mortality rate than those for whom they were not prescribed. The patients on beta-blockers also had substantially reduced mortality even among patients with heart failure, pulmonary disease, and diabetes, conditions traditionally thought to be aggravated by beta-blockers.
The second study, at Yale University, analyzed the hospital discharge records of 45,308 heart attack patients over 65 who were considered fit for beta-blocker prescription. Only half of these had been prescribed beta-blockers, and a year later, patients who hadn't taken beta-blockers were 14 percent less likely to be alive than those who had taken them.
Beta-blockers have been found to provide safe, highly-effective postmyocardial infarction therapy for elderly patients (Pinkowish, 1997). Without beta-blockers, this situation can have serious repercussions and a higher mortality rate. A study of 3,737 patients over the age of 65 who were released from hospital following myocardial infarction found that only 21 percent of the eligible patients were given beta-blockers, but the percentage of patients given calcium channel blockers rose from 23 percent to 49 percent. The mortality rate was reduced by 43 percent in those patients taking beta-blockers compared to those not taking them even after controlling for other mortality factors and the use of other cardiovascular drugs. Moreover, in patients eligible for beta-blocker treatment, but given calcium channel blockers instead, the mortality risk was doubled. It is thought that some physicians avoid prescribing beta-blockers becau
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