By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - People given a blood pressure drug known as a beta blocker to reduce heart risks before surgery were one-third more likely to die within a month and had double the risk of stroke compared with those given a...

London, May 13 : A new study has revealed that although beta-blocker drugs might help prevent heart attacks during surgery, they do have a possibility of increasing the risk of death and major stroke.

The findings are based on POISE, the world’s largest randomised trial addressing perioperative cardiac complications.

The trial evaluated the effects of a beta-blocker versus placebo given to patients around the time of surgery.

“POISE demonstrates that a beta-blocker given around the time of surgery decreases a patient’s risk of a heart attack but increases their risk of a major stroke and death,” The Lancet quoted Dr. P. J. Devereaux, POISE co-principle investigator, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, as saying.

Surgery boosts patients’ catecholamines, or stress hormones, which increase the heart’s requirement for oxygen.

And stress on the heart can cause serious events such as a heart attack.

Since beta-blockers reduce the effects of increased catecholamines some doctors thought that they might prevent serious heart complications around the time of surgery.

“Initial small trials suggested beta-blockers were beneficial around the time of surgery but more recent moderate sized trials did not show any benefit. We undertook POISE to provide a clearer understanding of the effects of a beta-blocker around the...
Click here to read the content (Source TopNews)