Beta blockers may provide no clinical benefit to patients who maintain normal heart function following a heart attack, according to a study published Aug. 30 in The New England Journal of Medicine.  The study’s findings are based on data from 8,505 patients across 109 hospitals in Spain and Italy who were followed for a median of about four years. 

Beta blockers have been part of standard treatment after heart attack for more than 40 years, but can cause side effects such as fatigue, low heart rate and sexual dysfunction, according to a Sept. 2 news release from New York City-based Mount Sinai. Another study, published simultaneously in the European Heart Journal, found that women treated with beta blockers had a higher risk of death, heart attack and hospitalization for heart failure com

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