Beta-Blocker Plus Statin Curbs Heart Attack Deaths

People who survive a heart attack but develop heart failure as a result fare better when treated with a beta-blocker or a statin drug. Moreover, combination treatment with both types of drug increases the benefits, according to a new study.

People who survive a heart attack but develop heart failure as a result fare better when treated with a beta-blocker or a statin drug. Moreover, combination treatment with both types of drug increases the benefits, according to a new study.Dr. Aina Hognestad, of the University of Oslo, Norway, and colleagues looked at data on 5301 heart attack survivors who were enrolled in a clinical trial of various drug treatments.A total of 1971 participants (37 percent) were treated with both statins and beta-blockers, 496 (9 percent) were given statins alone, 2004 (38 percent) received beta-blockers alone, and 830 (16 percent) were given neither treatment.A total of 770 patients died during the following three years, and 726 had another heart attack, the team reports in the American Journal of Cardiology.Compared with no treatment, statin treatment alone reduced the risk of dying by 26.1 percent, beta-blockers alone yielded a decrease of 30.6 percent, and the combination of statins and beta-blockers cut mortality by 48.3 percent, Hognestad and colleagues found.Based on these findings, the researchers conclude that early initiation of statin and beta-blocker therapy for patients with a heart attack complicated by heart failure can decrease mortality.(Source: Reuters Health, American Journal of Cardiology, April, 2004)