Beta blockers treat various medical conditions from heart disease to anxiety. They are widely used. What are beta blockers and what do they treat? Let’s understand.

Blockers are medications used to treat various heart and circulatory system issues. They are also used to treat brain and nervous system conditions.

HardBeta blockers control blood pressure and treat heart failure. The first beta blocker revolutionized angina treatment in the 1960s.

Over the next four decades, these old dogs have mastered many new tricks, ranging from guarding the heart after a heart attack to controlling heart failure. Today, millions of Americans use a beta blocker.

This medication spotlight focuses on how beta-blockers act, who can benefit from them, and what one should expect when taking one.

Beta blockers are one of the most commonly used drug classes in the world. Initially broadly used in the treatment of hypertension and contraindicated in the management of heart failure, their position in managing these complications has evolved. 

Now, beta blockers are no longer considered a first-line treatment for hypertension but have proven to be useful in treating a number of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure. 

What Is Beta Blocker Used For?

Beta blockers are a group of drugs used to treat several medical disorders, mainly cardiovascular ones. 

These drugs act by inhibiting the effects of adrenaline (epinephrine) on the beta receptors in the tissues, which are present in the heart, blood vessels, and lungs. 

Because of this, beta blockers maintain the normal heart rate, lower the blood pressure, and relieve the symptoms associated with some heart conditions.

A very common use of beta blockers is in the management of hypertension. Beta blockers aid in lowering blood pressure levels by reducing the power used by the heart to pump blood and by relaxing blood vessels, thereby reducing the incidence of complications such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease.

These drugs provide relief from the angina symptoms by reducing the workload of the heart and improving the blood supply to the heart.

Beta blockers also help in management of arrhythmias, which are abnormal heart rhythms. These drugs bring the heart rhythm back to normal and prevent complications that may arise from abnormal heartbeats.

The other major application of beta blockers is in the management of heart failure. In this case, the heart is unable to pump blood effectively and this results in symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, and legs swelling. 

Long term effects of beta blockers include improvement of heart function through strengthening the heart muscle and thereby reducing the burden on the heart.

Apart from their cardiovascular effects, beta blockers are used as well to treat anxiety disorders. These drugs can reduce symptoms, such as tachycardia, tremors, and sweating in stressful situations, by inhibiting adrenaline’s action on the body’s beta receptors.

Moreover, some beta blockers have been proved to prevent migraines. These drugs can also help in stabilizing blood vessels in the brain, which in turn reduces the number and intensity of migraine attacks for migraine sufferers.

Beta blocker eye drops treat glaucoma by reducing eye pressure. They can also treat a wide range of medical disorders, providing symptomatic relief. These drugs improve quality of life from hypertension to anxiety disorders.

It is recommended to seek medical advice before starting or adjusting any medication. This ensures proper and secure treatment.

How Do They Work?

Your body has a chemical signaling system that controls other processes and functions. This involves selected sites on the surface of your cells, called receptors, where specific chemicals — called neurotransmitters can attach.

Receptors work similarly to locks. A molecule with the proper shape binds to a receptor and acts like a key to activate the cell to react in a particular manner. 

The response of the cell depends on its position and functions. If the body requires some cells to operate, it can make more of the chemical that can stimulate the receptors of such cells.

Most drugs, in fact, work by artificially interfering with that chemical signaling process. Medications that work like this fall into two categories:

These drugs bind to and stimulate receptor sites. Effectively, they behave as if they are the right kind of chemical compound and the cell succumbs to the trick. This can activate cells that would otherwise not be active.

These drugs bind to the receptor sites but do nothing else. It is almost like breaking a key that has been inserted into a lock.

 The broken segment of the key remains and prevents another key from entering. Antagonists decrease the number of the receptors available for activation, thereby slowing down cell activity.

What Beta Blockers Do?

Many cells have beta receptors, which are small proteins on their outer surface. There are three main types. 

Beta-1 receptors are present almost only in the heart cells. Beta-2 receptors are mostly in lung and blood vessel cells. Some are in heart cells. Beta-3 receptors are in fat cells.

The role of beta receptors is to bind to chemical messengers that are released by the nervous system. 

To these messengers, the heart beats faster, the blood vessels constrict, the airways relax, and the kidneys increase production of a protein that increases blood pressure.

Beta blockers disrupt such processes by binding onto beta receptors and blocking the chemical messengers from binding to their receptors. That lowers the heart rate, enhances the transmission of electrical waves in the heart, relaxes the blood vessels, and drops the blood pressure.

What Are The Common Beta-blockers Available?

• Atenolol (brand names include Tenormin)
• Propranolol (brand names include Inderal)
• Bisoprolol
• Carvedilol
• Acebutolol
• Labetalol
• Nadolol
• Pindolol
• Sotalol
• Metoprolol
• Nebivolol

Who Should Not Be Given A Beta Blocker?

Beta-blockers should not be used in some cases, like untreated heart failure. Also, for low blood pressure and heart rhythm disorders. Avoid for example palpitations, arrhythmias, or bradycardia (a very slow heart rate).

Beta blockers are not used to treat asthma or other lung diseases. They can cause severe asthma attacks.

If you have severe circulation problems in your limbs (for example, Raynaud’s phenomenon, which may cause tingling or pallor or bluishness of the fingers and toes) your doctor will weigh the benefits against the risks.

What Is The Purpose Of Beta Blockers?

The primary use of beta blockers is the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, or abnormal heart rhythm. Doctors can also use these drugs to help patients recover after a heart attack.

This can lead to better survival rates and a reduced chance of another heart attack.

Beta blockers work because they reduce the oxygen demand of the heart muscle, thus reducing the workload on the heart to pump blood. 

Beta blockers also get rid of symptoms like angina (chest pain), dyspnea (shortness of breath), nausea, and weakness.

These drugs can prevent migraines by enhancing the supply of oxygen to the brain. Physicians also use beta blockers for glaucoma patients to relieve eye pressure by reducing eye fluid production.

The list below shows the top 10 beta blockers prescribed to U.S. patients in 2023 YTD. We used data from the Definitive Healthcare Atlas Prescription Claims dataset. patients in 2023 YTD.

What Are The Adverse Effects Of Beta Blockers?

Although they have various positive uses, beta blockers can cause a number of side effects. Beta receptor blockade by beta blocker drugs leads to bradycardia and hypotension. Other side effects reported by patients include fatigue, dizziness, and nausea.