A recent study from the University of Bologna brings to light a critical health concern for women with high blood pressure who have never had heart disease.
The research, published in the journal Hypertension, reveals that women taking beta-blockers, a common medication for managing high blood pressure, face a nearly 5% higher risk of developing heart failure than men in similar health conditions, especially after experiencing acute coronary syndromes.
These syndromes are serious heart conditions marked by sudden, decreased blood flow to the heart.
Beta-blockers are often prescribed to tackle hypertension, a key risk factor for heart-related diseases.
The research aimed to dig into how these medications impact both men and women who have high blood pressure but do not have a history of heart disease, particularly following episodes of acute coronary syndrome.
The study scrutinized data from 13,764 adults from 12 European countries, all of whom had hypertension but no prior heart diseases. They were divided based on their gender and whether they were on beta-blocker therapy.
Here’s what the study found:
Women using beta-blockers had a 4.6% higher chance of being hospitalized with heart failure compared to their male counterparts when they faced acute coronary syndrome.
The mortality rate for individuals who developed heart failure was roughly seven times greater than for those who had an acute myocardial infarction (a type of heart attack) without heart failure.
Specifically, women experiencing a severe type of heart attack known as ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), where a coronary artery gets completely blocked, were 6.1% more likely to suffer from heart failure than men with the same condition.
Notably, men and women not taking beta-blockers had approximately the same rate of heart failure.
The study emphasizes the importance of managing blood pressure through lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise, especially for women without a history of heart disease.
It also suggests that the interaction between beta-blockers and hormone replacement therapy might increase the risk of heart failure in women, although this particular angle was not the main focus of the research.
This research is a crucial step toward understanding how treatments for high blood pressure can have different effects on men and women. It calls for a more personalized approach to medical treatment, particularly for women at risk of heart disease.
Further research is needed to explore these gender-specific responses and to ensure that hypertension treatments are safe and effective for everyone.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing plant-based foods could benefit people with high blood pressure.
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