In a research study from the University of Bologna, scientists have made a discovery.
Women who take a certain drug for high blood pressure have a slightly higher chance of heart failure.
This chance is higher than in men, even if they’ve never had heart disease before.
The Medication: Beta-Blockers
The drugs in question are called beta-blockers. These are used to lower high blood pressure. High blood pressure can lead to heart disease, so these drugs are commonly used.
What Did the Researchers Do?
In the study, the scientists looked at how beta-blockers affect men and women. The patients all had high blood pressure but no previous heart disease.
The team noted if these patients ended up with heart issues after having sudden heart problems.
The team studied 13,764 adults from 12 countries in Europe. These people all had high blood pressure. They had not had any heart diseases before.
The team divided these people into two groups. One group was on beta-blockers. The other group was not.
Findings from the Study
The findings were interesting. The women on beta-blockers had a 4.6% higher chance of heart failure than men. This was when they came to the hospital with sudden heart issues.
Heart failure death rates were high. They were about seven times more than patients with a type of heart attack but no heart failure.
Women who had a severe type of heart attack had a higher risk. They were 6.1% more likely to have heart failure than men with the same type of heart attack.
Men and women who were not on beta-blockers had similar heart failure rates.
What Does This Mean?
The researchers say this is very important for women with only high blood pressure and no heart disease history. Women need to watch their blood pressure closely. They can do this by eating healthy and exercising.
The higher risk of heart failure in women might be due to the mix of hormone therapy and beta-blockers. But, the researchers didn’t collect or test this information in the study.
Keep Learning
If you’re interested in keeping your heart healthy, read more studies. Find out what to eat if you have a heart rhythm problem. Learn about how vitamin C might help with heart rhythm problems.
There are more studies about heart health. Some look at the link between cannabis and heart attacks. Others talk about reversing heart failure with diet.
Raffaele Bugiardini and his team conducted the study. The findings were published in a journal called Hypertension.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about a safe and more effective way to treat high blood pressure, and many people with high blood pressure may take a drug making it worse.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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