Beta-Blockers for Heart Attack and Unstable Angina
Why It Is Used
In the hospital. Beta-blockers are given as soon as possible to a person having a heart attack. Beta-blockers reduce heart rate, blood pressure, and the workload of the heart. When the heart does not have to work as hard, it requires less oxygen. This in turn can help relieve or prevent chest pain (angina). Beta-blockers are often used with other medicines to treat a heart attack in progress.
After a heart attack. If a person has a heart attack, he or she typically will take beta-blockers for a long time, maybe for the rest of his or her life.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: May 14, 2012 |
| Medical Review: | Reference Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Reference E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine Reference Stephen Fort, MD, MRCP, FRCPC - Interventional Cardiology |
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