A common heart attack medication has been linked to an increase in depression and anxiety without positive effects on a specific group of patients' cardiovascular health.
A sub-study by researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden found that patients who had a heart attack but were not suffering from heart failure may not need beta blockers after all. In fact, the drug could be causing an increase in depression among this group.
Beta blockers are prescription-only medications that slow down the heart by blocking action hormones like adrenaline, according to the U.K.'s National Health Service.
The researchers studied 806 patients who had a heart attack but no heart failure problems between 2018 and 2023. Half were given the drug while the other half were not. The findings showed that about 100 patients taking the medication had more severe depression symptoms.
"We found that beta blockers led to slightly higher levels of depression symptoms in patients who had had a heart attack but were not suffering from heart failure. At the same time, beta blockers have no life-sustaining function for this group of patients," explained Philip Leissner, a doctoral student in cardiac psychology from Uppsala University and the study’s first author, in a news release.
The research is a follow-up to a national study conducted in Sweden which found that those who have been taking beta-blocking drugs were not protected from a heart attack relapse or even death compared to those not taking it.
"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," Leissner added.
The study was published in the journal Acute Cardiovascular Care by the European Heart Journal.
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